The Hebrew olah (עֹלָה) originally means “that which goes up (in smoke).” English Bibles often translates it as “burnt-offering” or “whole burnt-offering,” focusing on the aspect of the complete burning of the offering.
The GreekSeptuagint and the LatinVulgate Bibles translate it as holokautōma / holocautōsis (ὁλοκαύτωμα / ὁλοκαύτωσις) and holocaustum, respectively, meaning “wholly burnt.” While a form of this term is widely used in many Romance languages (Spanish: holocaustos, French: holocaustes, Italian: olocausti, Portuguese: holocaustos) and originally also in the Catholic tradition of English Bible translations, it is largely not used in English anymore today (the preface of the revised edition of the Catholic New American Bible of 2011: “There have been changes in vocabulary; for example, the term ‘holocaust’ is now normally reserved for the sacrilegious attempt to destroy the Jewish people by the Third Reich.”)
Since translation into Georgian was traditionally done on the basis of the Greek Septuagint, a transliteration of holokautōma was used as well, which was changed to a translation with the meaning of “burnt offering” when the Old Testament was retranslated in the 1980’s on the basis of the Hebrew text.
In the Koongo (Ki-manianga) translation by the Alliance Biblique de la R.D. Congo (publ. in 2015) olah is translated as “kill and offer sacrifice” (source: Anicet Bassilua) and in Elhomwe as “fire offering.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The English translation of Everett Fox uses offering-up (similarly, the German translation by Buber-Rosenzweig has Darhöhung and the French translation by Chouraqui montée).
The Hebrew that is translated as “offering” in English is translated in Venda as nduvho. J. A. van Rooy (in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 439ff. ) explains: “It is derived from the verb u luvha (‘to pay homage to; to acknowledge the superiority of; at the same time usually asking for a favour’). It is sometimes used as a synonym for ‘asking something from a chief. The noun nduvho means ‘a gift of allegiance,’ which corresponds closely with minchah (מִנְחָה) as ‘offering of allegiance.’ This term nduvho has in it the elements of subjugation, of reciprocity (asking for a favor), of being taken up into the same community as the chief in allegiance to him. Only the element of expiation is missing.”
In Northern Emberá, it is translated as “given to God freely.” (Source: Loewen 1980, p. 108)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 30:9:
Kupsabiny: “Never burn any other things in this altar which is not authorized, either sacrificial animal or food. Even wine which is being offered should not be poured on it.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Do not offer other kinds of incense, burnt offering, grain offering and drink offering on this altar.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “[You (plur.)] do- not -offer on this altar other incense or any other burnt offerings, or a gift offering, or drinking offering.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “But you (pl.) can’t/mustn’t offer any other incense on this table. And also, you can’t/mustn’t offer any animal, or any wit, or any oain on this table.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “Altar of incense, incense which I not permit that they give me, they must not (imp.) it smoke there. Also, gift(s) of fire, or gift(s) of food, or libation, they must not (imp.) it give there.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “The priests must not burn on the altar any incense that I have not told you to burn, or burn any animal on it, or any grain offering for me, or pour any wine on it as an offering.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
You shall offer no unholy incense thereon is literally “You [singular] shall not cause to ascend upon it strange [or, foreign] incense.” This is the strong prohibitive form of the ten commandments. Unholy is better understood as “forbidden” (Good News Translation), “unauthorised” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “incense with bad taboo.” It is an incense from the outside that should not come in contact with a place where Yahweh is present. Contemporary English Version has “Burn only the proper incense.” New International Version has “any other incense,” but it is not yet clear that the only authorized incense is that prescribed in verses 34-35.
Nor burnt offering (ʿolah) refers to the animal sacrifices that were to be burned on the larger altar outside. Good News Translation is correct in translating “any animal offering,” since ʿolah would have a broader meaning here. Nor cereal offering refers to the “grain offering” (Good News Translation) described in Leviticus 2. (See 29.41 and the comment there.) And you shall pour no libation thereon refers to a “drink offering” (New Revised Standard Version) of wine. So Good News Translation calls it a “wine offering.” (See 29.40 and the comment there.)
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• Burn only the proper [or, authorized] incense on the altar. Don’t ever use it for sacrificing animals or offering grain. And do not pour out any wine offerings on it.
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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