lamb

The term that is translated as “lamb” in English is typically translated as “offspring of a sheep” in Ixcatlán Mazatec since there is no specific word for “lamb.” Since this could distract readers with thoughts of God being the sheep when the “lamb” refers to Jesus the translation into Ixcatlán Mazatec chose “little (individual) sheep” for those cases. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Dëne Súline the native term for “lamb” directly translated as “the young one of an evil little caribou.” To avoid the negative connotation, a loan word from the neighboring South Slavey was used. (Source: NCEM, p. 70)

For the Kasua translation, it took a long process to find the right term. Rachel Greco (in The PNG Experience ) tells this story:

“To the Kasua people of Western Province, every four-legged animal is a pig. They call a horse a pig-horse, a cow, a pig-cow, and a sheep, a pig-sheep, because all of these animals have four legs, which is kopolo, or pig, in their language.

“When the translation team would translate the word, ‘sheep’ in the New Testament, they would translate it as ‘pig-sheep’. So when Jesus is referred to as the ‘Lamb,’ (John 1:29; Rev. 12:11; Rev. 17:14), they translated as ‘pig-sheep’ so that in John 1:29 it would read: ‘Behold, the pig-sheep of God.’

“When some members of the translation team attended the Translators Training Course, they had the opportunity to observe and study sheep for the first time. As they watched and learned more about the animals’ behavior, their understanding of these creatures—and God’s Word—rotated on its axis.

“Once during the course, Logan and Konni — the translation team’s helpers — were driving with the team to a Bible dedication when Amos, one of the team members, said passionately, ‘We can’t use the word kopolo in front of the word, ‘sheep’! Pigs know when they’re about to die and squeal and scream.’ The team had often watched villagers tie up pigs so they wouldn’t escape.

“’But,’ Amos said, ‘Jesus didn’t do that.’ The team had learned that sheep are quiet and still when death walks toward them. They had observed, as they translated the New Testament, the words of Isaiah 53 fulfilled: ‘Like a lamb led to the slaughter, he did not open his mouth.’ And now they understood what it meant. For this reason, the team decided not to put pig-sheep in the New Testament for the word ‘sheep,’ but used sheep-animal or, in their language, a:pele sipi.

“The Kasua translation team also chose to discard the word ‘pig’ before sheep because pigs are unclean animals to the Jews. The team knew that Jesus was called the ‘Lamb of God’ in the New Testament to show that he is unblemished and clean. Hopefully the Lord will open up the Kasua villagers’ eyes to these same truths about Jesus as they read of Him in their own language.”

See also The Paschal Lamb, sheep, and sheep / lamb.

The Paschal Lamb

Artwork by Sister Marie Claire , SMMI (1937–2018) from Bengaluru, India.

For more information about images by Sister Marie Claire and ways to purchase them as lithographs, see here .

For other images of Sister Marie Claire paintings in TIPs, see here.

complete verse (Exodus 12:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 12:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “If the people are few in any house that (they) may not finish to eat all that goat/lamb, then (he) needs to divide it with his neighbor according to the number of people he has.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “If a family has too few people to eat a lamb, then let them arrange with the nearest neighbor taking into account the number of people there are. However much each person will be able to eat that will decide how many lambs are needed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If one family (is) just/[limiting particle] small that can- not -consume one sheep, they with their neighbor should-share-it-with-one-another. They are-to-divide it according to their number and according to what each person is-able-to-eat.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “If a [certain] house doesn’t have many people and so they aren’t able to eat that whole animal so that it’s finished, then they will join together with another family close to them. They must evaluate (lit. their eye follow) well their people’s number and so distribute animal flesh to be sufficient for them.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “If a family be few that they not child of sheep/goats one will be able to eat, let them give neighbors their. If a man will give his neighbors animal like that, let them divide animal [body] according to number of people of home. you choose animal which you will be able to eat.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “If there are not enough people in his family to eat a whole cooked lamb, then his family and the family that lives next door may share one animal. Decide how many lambs you need according to the number of people in each family, and according to how much each person can eat.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 12:4

This verse presents many difficulties, so the entire verse and the context should be carefully studied before translating. And if the household is too small for a lamb means “if there are not enough people in a household to eat a whole lamb.” (See verse 3 for the meaning of lamb.) Then a man and his neighbor refers to the head of the household and his Israelite neighbor. The assumption here is that the head of the household would go to his Israelite neighbor, not his Egyptian neighbor. Shall take is singular in form, but it includes both family heads. It is understood that what they shall take, or what “they may share,” is the lamb, or “animal” (Good News Translation).

His neighbor next to his house is ambiguous. It may be understood geographically as “his next-door neighbor” (Good News Translation). But the following phrase, according to the number of persons, suggests that it can mean “the closest neighbor in the number of persons” (Childs). That is, a near-by family would be selected on the basis of family size, not simply because they are “next door.”

The next phrase, according to what each can eat, adds to the difficulty, but it is part of a separate clause, you shall make your count for the lamb. Literally the entire clause reads “a man according to his food you will reckon unto the lamb.” (The you is plural.) Although the problem arises from the number of people in one household being too few, it is not clear whether the “reckoning” means to count the cost for proper sharing of expenses or to count the number of people. (The verb occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.) New Revised Standard Version favors the latter, “the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat it.” But Revised English Bible favors the former, “They are to share the cost according to the amount each person eats.”

This verse obviously attempts to explain a rather complex regulation. Few of the English translations are clear because they follow the form of the Hebrew too closely. Good News Translation, however, seems to be the clearest, for to “share an animal” may refer to the cost as well as the number of people and the amount each one eats. This is what the context suggests. If, however, a translator decides to use New Revised Standard Version‘s interpretation above, another way to express this is “the animal must be large enough for everyone to have some meat” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

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 .