Hail

The Hebrew and Ge’ez that is translated as “hail” in English is translated in Tagakaulo as batu na ayis or “rocks of ice.” (Source: Scott and Becky Burton in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 73)

complete verse (Exodus 10:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 10:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “The whole ground was dark/black. Those locusts ate all the trees and any other thing which the hailstones had left so that there was no green thing that remained in Egypt.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “They covered all the ground until it was black. They ate all that was left after the hail. Everything growing in the fields and fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained in all the land of Egypt.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They covered the whole-of Egipto until the land seemed-to become-black. They ate the leftover plants/crops that were- not -destroyed by the rain ice, including all the fruit on the trees. No plants/crops were-left in the whole-of Egipto.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “They covered the surface of the ground so that it was black. Therefore they ate all the food and things which the hard raindrops hadn’t destroyed. They didn’t leave any tree fruit or leaves existing in the area of Isip. They ate all of them until they were finished.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “It filled land of Egypt all until earth became black during daytime. And food which remained in field, and fruit which remained which hail not spoil, it ate it all. On country of Egypt all, there was no ear green one which remain in tree with grass.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “They covered the surface of the ground and made it appear black. They ate all the plants in the land and everything on the trees that had not been destroyed by the hail. Nothing that was green was left on any plant or on any tree, anywhere in Egypt.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 10:15

For is not necessary; it only represents the usual conjunction waw. The face of the whole land is really “the eye of the whole land” (see verse 5), so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates “They hid all the land from view.” But the word for “eye” may also mean “appearance.” New Revised Standard Version has changed face to “surface,” along with others (New American Bible, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). So that the land was darkened suggests that the locusts were in the air, blocking out the sunlight. The context, however, suggests they were on the ground, even though the word really means “dark.” Hence one may say “They covered the ground until it was black with them” (Good News Translation), or “They covered the ground so that it looked black.”

They ate all the plants in the land uses the same word as in verse 12. The locusts probably ate all the fruit off the trees and the leaves, new buds, and green sprigs off both the trees and plants. But they did not eat the larger tree branches. So and they ate all the plants … may be rendered as “They ate the greenery off all the plants and trees that the hail had not destroyed, and also the fruit on the trees.” And all the fruit of the trees is added here for emphasis; it was not part of the warning given in verse 5. Which the hail had left refers to the trees that had survived the hailstorm (9.25.) Not a green thing remained refers to any green plant life, such as new buds or sprigs that may have appeared. One may also express this as “None of the trees or plants had any greenery [or, green things] left on them.” Tree and plant of the field repeat the same words used in 9.25. This time the destruction of the plant life was complete.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .