The Hebrew in Exodus 16:14 is translated in English translations as manna (that) was “as delicate (thin) as frost.” In Dan they said it was as delicate as hail since they don’t have frost here. However, I cautioned them that hail is not very delicate. So I suggested that they say the manna was as delicate as ashes (bɥ̀ɵ̀). That has worked well in other languages here. The whole sentence in Dan reads: “Kǝ lɛ̀ lúɛ́ ɓɛ é go sɛaɛ, pǝ ɓlɵ́ téé ê bìɓòlɛ̀ kâ gbéèɛ̀ é kǝ̀ nɛɛ bɥ̀ɵ̀ lɵ́ɛ è kǝ̀ sɛa má.”
Low German translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006: “steppe”
Yakan: “the lonely place” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a land where no people lived” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “the place with no inhabitants” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Matumbi uses various term: lubele (desert, sandy place without water) — used in John 11:54, lupu’ngu’ti (a place where no people live, can be a scrub land, a forest, or a savanna) — used in Mark 1:3 et al.), and mwitu (a forest, a place where wild animals live) — used in Mark 1:13 et al.) (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Chichewa Contemporary translation (2002/2016): chipululu: a place uninhabited by people with thick forest and bush (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Note that in Luke 15:4, usually a term is used that denotes pastoral land, such as “eating/grazing-place,” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
Some translations specifically reproduce the voice of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament / Hebrew Bible.
English: Now it was at sunset
a horde-of-quail came up and covered the camp.
And at daybreak
there was a layer of dew around the camp;
and when the layer of dew went up,
here, upon the surface of the wilderness,
something fine,
scaly,
fine as hoar-frost upon the land.
When the Children of Israel saw it
they said each-man to his brother: Mahn hu / what is it?
For they did not know what it was.
Moshe said to them:
It is the bread that Yhwh has given you for eating.
Source: Everett Fox 1995
German: Am Abend wars,
das Wachtelvolk stieg auf und überhüllte das Lager.
Aber am Morgen
war eine Schicht Taus rings um das Lager,
und als die Tauschicht aufstieg,
da war auf der Fläche der Wüste
etwas Feines,
Schuppiges,
fein wie der Reif auf der Erde.
Die Söhne Jissraels sahens
und sprachen einer zum andern:
Man hu — was ist das?
Denn sie wußten nicht was es war.
Mosche sprach zu ihnen:
Das ist das Brot, das Er euch zum Essen gegeben hat.
Source: Buber / Rosenzweig 1976
French: Et c’est au soir, la caille monte, elle couvre le camp,
et le matin, c’était une couche de rosée autour du camp.
La couche de rosée monte, et voici: sur les faces du désert,
une croûte fine, fine comme givre sur la terre.
Les Benéi Israël voient et disent, chaque homme à son frère:
« Mân hou ? Qu’est-ce ? » Non, ils ne savaient pas ce que c’était.
Moshè leur dit:
« C’est le pain que IHVH-Adonaï vous donne en nourriture. »
Source: Chouraqui 1985
For other verses or sections translated with a Hebraic voice, see here.
Image taken from the Wiedmann Bible. For more information about the images and ways to adopt them, see here . For other images of Willy Wiedmann paintings in TIPs, see here.
Following is an 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.
The following is a stained glass window from the Three choir windows in the Marienkirche, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, of the 14th century, depicting the feeding with manna:
Source: Der gläserne Schatz: Die Bilderbibel der St. Marienkirche in Frankfurt (Oder), Neuer Berlin Verlag, 2005, copyright for this image: Brandenburgisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologisches Landesmuseum
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 16:14:
Kupsabiny: “When the dew got finished/disappeared, thin/flat and soft things like frost appeared on the ground/soil of the wilderness.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “After the dew disappeared on the desert, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “When the dew now dried-off, they were-able-to-see there in the-desolate-place thin things that (are) very white.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “And that dew became dry and went and was finished, and then they saw many small things lying on the surface of the ground like sago flakes yet it was lightweight.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “When dew dried [complete], there was that which stayed behind on ground which be white be fine. It looked like hail.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “When the dew evaporated, on the surface of the desert there was a thick layer of something that looked like white flakes. It looked like frost.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
And when the dew had gone up is literally “and the layer of dew went up,” but this simply means “when the dew evaporated” (Good News Translation), “dried up” (Translator’s Old Testament), or simply “had gone” (Contemporary English Version). There was on the face of the wilderness is somewhat literal, but the Hebrew also says more exactly “And behold upon the face of the wilderness.” Most translations omit “behold” here, but there is an element of surprise indicated. (See verse 10 for a similar surprise.) New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “there, over the surface of the wilderness.” This is a more poetic way of saying on the ground.
A fine, flake-like thing is describing something for which there was no name. (The name is finally given in verse 31.) Literally the Hebrew says “thin flaky.” The word for “flaky” is found only here, so the meaning is not certain. Jerusalem Bible has “powdery,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “granular.” Revised English Bible has “fine flakes” for the two words (similarly Contemporary English Version), and New Revised Standard Version has “a fine flaky substance.” Good News Translation has “something thin and flaky.” Translators should seek a term that describes a paper-thin substance of some kind.
Fine as hoarfrost uses the word “thin” again, with the usual word for “frost.” Frost is the condensed moisture, or dew, after it freezes and turns white in color. Good News Translation translates this description as “as delicate as frost.” In areas where “frost” is not known, it may be necessary to use a familiar expression like “as delicate as powder.” On the ground refers to the same thing as on the face of the wilderness.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• After the dew had gone [or, evaporated], the desert was covered with a thin flaky substance that looked like frost.
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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