grain

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “wheat”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).

Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “millet” (Lambya) (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), “food” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext) or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

complete verse (Exodus 22:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 22:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “If someone has burned his garden/field and fire crossed into the neighbor’s garden and burned the crops which are growing or those that have been slashed/cut and heaped, that man should pay back that person’s food/crops.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “When a man sets fire to thorn bushes and the fire gets out of control and goes into another field so that the shocks of grain or the standing grain are destroyed, the one who started the fire shall make full restitution.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘If a man starts-a-fire/burns-something, and the fire spreads through the weeds to the field of another person, the one who started-the-fire must pay-for the plants that were-damaged.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “‘If a man sets fire to his garden, and the fire burns out of control, consuming dry weeds and then crosses over and goes and consumes another man’s garden, or consumes his heap of wit, or other wit which they haven’t cut yet, the main who kindled the fire must pay back whatever food the fire consumed.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “If a man burn fire, and it eat grass, go eat sorghum which be present to drying rack or that which be present field, one who burn fire will give it all.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “Suppose someone starts a fire in his own field, and the fire spreads through the grass and starts burning in someone else’s field, and the fire burns grain that is growing or grain that is already cut and stacked. Then the person who started the fire must pay completely for the damage.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 22:6

When translates the word ki, which introduces a new law. When fire breaks out is literally “If fire comes out,” but it does not mean that the fire starts by itself. He that kindled the fire is mentioned later in the main clause. It may be clearer to move this to the beginning of the verse, as Good News Translation has done: “If a man starts a fire in his field.” And catches in thorns is literally “and it meets [by chance] thorn bushes.” The more natural way to say this in English is “and it spreads through the weeds” (Good News Translation). The word for thorns is one of several Hebrew words referring to various “weeds” that had little use other than for burning.

So that … is consumed is literally “and it is eaten,” one word in the Hebrew. The passive form, is consumed, may easily be changed to active since it is the fire that “eats,” or “burns up” (Good News Translation) the grain. Two different words are used for grain, with the basic meaning of “what is stacked” and “what is standing.” Since the kind of grain is not indicated, it evidently includes all kinds of crops such as those mentioned in 9.31-32. The stacked grain is what has been “cut and stacked” (Good News Translation) or “shocked” (New American Bible) for drying. Revised English Bible refers to this as “sheaves.” The standing grain is what is still “growing” (Good News Translation) and not yet cut. The field refers to the entire field of grain, or “the entire crop” (Durham). These three words are connected by or, which gives the sense of “either one or the other,” so even a partial damage is subject to the penalty.

He that kindled the fire indicates that it did not start by itself. Literally the text says “the burner of the fire,” which means “the one who started the fire” (New International Version). But the implication is that this person did not intend to destroy any of the grain. It is possible that his own field is destroyed, but since compensation is to be paid, Good News Translation assumes that the man started the fire “in his field and it spreads … to another man’s field.” However, “in his field” and “another man’s field” are only implied.

Shall make full restitution is literally “paying back he shall pay back,” meaning that he must pay in full for all the “damage” (Good News Translation). This is the same emphatic form used in 21.12 for “dying he shall die.” American Standard Version has “shall surely make restitution,” and Durham has “is certainly to give compensation.” One may also say “he must pay the owner for any crops destroyed by the fire.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Suppose a person starts a fire in his own field and lets it spread through the weeds to someone else’s field or fruit garden. If it burns either the crops that are growing there or that have been cut and stacked, he must pay the owner for any crops that the fire destroys.

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 .