The Hebrew that is rendered in English as “peace offering” or “sacrifice (or “offerings”) of well-being” or similar is translated into Pökoot as pöghisyö: “gift of peace/fellowship.” This term has the connotations of fellowship, wholeness, restored relationships, etc. The word pöghisyö is also used as a common greeting (much like Shalom in Hebrew).
In the ItalianTraduzione interconfessionale in lingua corrente (2014) it is translated as “sacrificio per il banchetto sacro” (“sacrifice for the holy banquet”), in the Contemporary Russian Version (2nd ed., 2015) as “banquet offering,” or in Tatar as “sacrifice of reconciliation.” (Source: Lénart de Regt in The Bible Translator 2017, p. 131ff. )
The German Jewish translation by Buber and Rosenzweig has “peace meal slaughter” (Friedmahlschlachtung).
The Hebrew olah (עֹלָה) originally means “that which goes up (in smoke).” English Bibles often translates it as “burnt-offering” or “whole burnt-offering,” focusing on the aspect of the complete burning of the offering.
The GreekSeptuagint and the LatinVulgate Bibles translate it as holokautōma / holocautōsis (ὁλοκαύτωμα / ὁλοκαύτωσις) and holocaustum, respectively, meaning “wholly burnt.” While a form of this term is widely used in many Romance languages (Spanish: holocaustos, French: holocaustes, Italian: olocausti, Portuguese: holocaustos) and originally also in the Catholic tradition of English Bible translations, it is largely not used in English anymore today (the preface of the revised edition of the Catholic New American Bible of 2011: “There have been changes in vocabulary; for example, the term ‘holocaust’ is now normally reserved for the sacrilegious attempt to destroy the Jewish people by the Third Reich.”)
Since translation into Georgian was traditionally done on the basis of the Greek Septuagint, a transliteration of holokautōma was used as well, which was changed to a translation with the meaning of “burnt offering” when the Old Testament was retranslated in the 1980’s on the basis of the Hebrew text.
In the Koongo (Ki-manianga) translation by the Alliance Biblique de la R.D. Congo (publ. in 2015) olah is translated as “kill and offer sacrifice” (source: Anicet Bassilua) and in Elhomwe as “fire offering.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The English translation of Everett Fox uses offering-up (similarly, the German translation by Buber-Rosenzweig has Darhöhung and the French translation by Chouraqui montée).
The Hebrew that is translated as “offering” in English is translated in Venda as nduvho. J. A. van Rooy (in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 439ff. ) explains: “It is derived from the verb u luvha (‘to pay homage to; to acknowledge the superiority of; at the same time usually asking for a favour’). It is sometimes used as a synonym for ‘asking something from a chief. The noun nduvho means ‘a gift of allegiance,’ which corresponds closely with minchah (מִנְחָה) as ‘offering of allegiance.’ This term nduvho has in it the elements of subjugation, of reciprocity (asking for a favor), of being taken up into the same community as the chief in allegiance to him. Only the element of expiation is missing.”
In Northern Emberá, it is translated as “given to God freely.” (Source: Loewen 1980, p. 108)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Amos 5:22:
Kupsabiny: “Although you bring me those sacrifices that are burned completely and fellowship offerings I will not accept (them). Although you give me your fat young bulls, I do not accept them at all.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Even, if you offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. I will not even care about your best fellowship offerings either.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Therefore even if you (plur.) will- still -bring me different-kinds of offerings, even the best offering, I will- not -accept those.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and cereal offerings, I will not accept them, and the peace offerings of your fatted beasts I will not look upon/When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings I will not accept them: I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. The three specific Hebrew words for offerings used here are not often directly translatable, because not all peoples offer such sacrificial gifts. For many parts of the Old Testament the translator has to develop new terms. In this context, however, it may be better not to make a distinction in the first part of the verse: “When you bring me (any kind of/different kinds of) offerings I will not accept them.” If it is necessary to make up new terms for these offerings, the translator should do this in a way that is natural for the receptor language but should avoid long descriptive and interpretative phrases. Burnt offerings were sacrifices in which the whole animal was burned up completely on the altar, being “sent up” to God in smoke. Cereal offerings/grain offerings were presentations of grain, offered to God as from an inferior to a superior. Sometimes it is possible to translate with such concise expressions as “thing-sacrifice to burn (or: by burning)” and “thing to give.” In other languages it is not possible to speak of “offerings” but only of “gifts,” and so the translation should be something like “burnt gift,” “food gift,” etc.
It is not certain what specific kind of offering is meant by the third Hebrew term as can be seen from the different translations which have been used: “Peace offerings” (Revised Standard Version, New American Bible), “thank-offerings” (Smith-Goodspeed), “shared-offerings” (New English Bible, The Translator’s Old Testament). There is a possibility that it was the offering for the end of the feast. The fat of the animal was burnt on the altar and offered to the Lord; the rest of the animal was eaten by the people. The important part is certainly the fat offered and not the meal. Good News Translation gives a meaningful restructuring the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings; this can serve as a model. I will not accept is literally in Hebrew I will not look upon, “I will not notice.” Such verbs are used to mean rejection in many languages.
Quoted with permission from de Waard, Jan & Smalley, William A. A Handbook on Amos. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1979. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
5:22a Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
If you (plur.) bring sacrifices to completely burn for me ⌊on the place/platform of sacrifices⌋ or offerings of grain, -or-
Do not bring (plur.) me offerings of burnt animals or grain.
5:22b I will not accept them;
I will reject them. -or-
I will not accept any of them.
5:22c for your peace offerings of fattened cattle
Even if you (plur.) bring offerings of fattened animals to make peace between us (incl.), -or-
Don’t bring (plur.) offerings of the best animals as a sign of peace ⌊between you (plur.) and me⌋ .
5:22d I will have no regard.
I will ignore them. -or-
I will not even look at your (plur.) offerings.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.