creeping things / reptiles

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated in English as “reptiles” or “creeping things” or similar is translated as “those which crawl along upon their stomach” in San Mateo del Mar Huave, “those that crawl the way they travel” in Chichimeca-Jonaz, and “animals that crawl on the ground” in Lalana Chinantec. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

In Nyamwezi it is translated as as vitundwa vya ku’yu’mba or “creatures that move.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

See also every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature and four-footed creatures and reptiles.

 

The Hebrew words zachal and remes literally mean “creeping [things]” or “crawling [things]”, which is the Hebrew way of referring to small unclean creatures, reptiles in particular. The Greek word herpeton is also a general word for reptile; it includes snakes and lizards. All of the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin words usually exclude fish.

The Hebrew words carry the connotation of uncleanness.

In languages which have a word meaning “reptile”, this will fit most contexts. In languages which do not, phrases such as “snakes and lizards”, “wriggling things”, and so forth could be used.

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Deuteronomy 32:24)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 32:24:

  • Kupsabiny: “They will become thin on account of famine
    and a fierce fever shall destroy them.
    I shall send fierce animals against them
    and poisonous snakes.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “By not getting to eat they will die,
    by getting dreadful diseases they will die.
    I will send fangs of wild beasts to them,
    and I will send poisonous snakes.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I will-cause- them -to-become-hungry; they will-die in hunger and disease.
    I will-send them fierce animals to harm them and venomous snakes to bite them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They will die because of being hungry and because of having hot fevers
    and because of terrible diseases;
    I will send wild animals to attack them,
    and poisonous snakes to bite them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 32:24

They shall be wasted … and devoured: the two verbs have the same meaning, complete destruction; the first verb is found only here in the Old Testament. Other ways to translate this are “They [or, You] will die from…” (Good News Translation) or “They [or, You] will be destroyed by….”

Hunger … burning heat … poisonous pestilence: it is not at once apparent what burning heat and poisonous pestilence stand for; they may be ways of speaking of droughts and poisonous snakes, or of fevers and deadly plagues. There is no way to be sure (see 28.21-22; Psa 78.49). Good News Translation is a good model to follow.

The teeth of beasts … the venom of crawling things in the dust: these are wild animals that will devour them, and poisonous snakes that will kill them. Again Good News Translation has a good alternative model.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .