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.”
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 12:8:
Kupsabiny: “The meat that you will eat must be roasted and you it eat with bitter herbs and with bread that has not risen.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “That same night having roasted the meat of the lamb over the fire you must eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “That night, what you (plur.) are-going-to-eat is the roasted sheep, bitter plants, and bread that has-none-of that-which-causes-to-expand.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “On that night you (pl.) will roast your sipsip on the fire and when it’s done, then eat it together with greens having a bitter taste and bret which has no yis existing in it.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “On that night, let them roast sheep/goats with fire, eat it with herbs bitter and bread which lacks yeast.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “They must roast the animals immediately and eat the meat that night. They must eat it with bread that is baked without yeast and with bitter herbs.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
They shall eat the flesh, that is, the Israelites are to eat the “meat” of the slaughtered animal. That night, literally “in that night,” does not specify the hour. Presumably it could be eaten at any time “during that night” (Durham), although it was to be eaten in haste (verse 11). Roasted is literally “roasted of fire.” This refers to cooking the meat over the fire, not in an oven. In languages that do not use the passive voice, this first sentence may be rendered as “That night they shall roast the animals and eat them.”
Unleavened bread (Hebrew matsah) refers to flat, round cakes made without any yeast-like substance to make it rise. (See the comment on verse 15.) The plural matsoth is used here, so Durham has “unleavened bread cakes.” In cultures where yeast is unknown, one may say, for example, “thin bread baked without anything to make it rise,” or “to make it soft and easy to chew.” And if bread is unknown, translators should borrow a word from a national or trade language. The bitter herbs, literally “bitter [things],” are not identified, but Jewish tradition permitted the use of five different plants: lettuce, chicory, pepperwort, snakeroot, and dandelion. However, translators should not mention any particular herb or spice by name. Hyatt suggests that these were originally wild desert plants that were picked to season the meat.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• That night they shall roast the animals and eat them, together with thin bread baked without yeast [or, anything to make it rise], and bitter herbs.
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 .
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