The Paschal Lamb

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

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complete verse (Exodus 12:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 12:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then you (plur.) remove/take a little blood and smear it on top of the door and the door frames of those houses where those goats are eaten from/in.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then the blood of the lamb must be applied on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the house where they eat the lamb.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then you (plur.) are-to-take (some) blood of this and you (plur.) wipe-on the top and side of the doorpost/doorframe of the doors of the houses where you (plur.) eat the sheep.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “You (pl.) must scoop a small amount of their blood and then rub it on your door’s two support posts and [on] its crosspiece above also. Do like that in each and every house in which you are eating.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “Afterwards, let them wipe its blood on the door of house which they will eat sheep/goats there. Let them wipe it on wood of door and top of door.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “Then they must take some of the blood from the lambs or goats, and they must smear it on the doorposts and the lintels/horizontal beams above the doorways of the houses in which they will eat the meat.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 12:7

Then (waw) here means “After that.” They shall take some of the blood means the blood of the slaughtered animal. And put it does not specify how the blood was to be applied. Probably Revised English Bible is correct in translating “smear.” New American Bible has “apply.” On the two doorposts refers to the upright posts on either side of the door opening that supported the lintel, the horizontal piece at the top. Good News Translation has “put it on the door posts and above the doors of the houses”; Contemporary English Version has “must be put on the two doorposts and above the door.” In cultures where houses do not have constructed framework for the entrance, one may say “take some of the blood and smear it on the sides of the entrance to the house and above the entrance.” The blood was to be smeared only on the houses in which they eat them, that is, “the houses in which the animals are to be eaten” (Good News Translation).

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 .