mercy seat

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “mercy seat,” “cover of the ark” or similar in English is translated by the interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) as or “the cover of that box which was the place for forgiving sins upon” (source: Wendland 1998, p. 110) and in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with Sühnedeckel or “atonement cover.”

complete verse (Exodus 35:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 35:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “(He/They) should make the Covenant Box, the poles for carrying, its bag and the curtain which covers/hides the Box,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “then the ark and its carrying poles, mercy seat and curtain hanging before it,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “the Box of the Covenant and its poles for carrying, cover/lid, and curtain;” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “and the law box together with its carrying poles, and the box’s top on which blood causes God to be at peace, and the big cloth which splits the interior of the shelter so that it becomes two.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “with sacred box, with its carry-wood, with its head which they will call place-of-mercy, with cloth of door sacred-place,” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “the sacred chest with its poles and its lid, the curtain that will separate the Holy Place from the Very Holy Place,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 35:11 - 35:12

The tabernacle is the last word in verse 10, according to Revised Standard Version, but it should be placed here as the first word in verse 11 (see the comment above). It is the Hebrew word mishkan, which here seems to refer to the entire structure, as in 25.9, with all the various parts then listed in the verses that follow. (See the comments on mishkan and ʾohel in the introduction to chapter 26, at 27.21, and in the introduction to 33.7-11.) Its tent (Revised Standard Version verse 11) is simply “its ʾohel,” meaning the primary tent described in 26.1-6. New International Version has “the tabernacle with its tent,” which helps to clarify this distinction (similarly New American Bible). This does not refer to the “tent of meeting,” as in 33.7. Good News Translation translates mishkan as “Tent,” and ʾohel as “its covering.”

Its tent and its covering, literally “its ʾohel and its mikseh,” therefore refers to the primary tent and its “outer covering” (Good News Translation). The same word for covering is used in 26.14 for an additional layer (or layers) of animal skins. (See the comment there.) Its hooks and its frames refers to the “clasps” in 26.6 and the frames in 26.15. (The two words in Hebrew are listed together because they sound alike, since its hooks is qerasaw and its frames is qerashaw.) Its bars refers to the “crossbars” (Good News Translation) described in 26.26-28. Its pillars refers to the “posts” (Good News Translation) mentioned in 26.32. Its bases refers to the “sockets” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and others) mentioned in 26.19.

The ark with its poles refers to “the Covenant Box” (Good News Translation) and “its poles” described in 25.10-15, where it indicates that the poles were always to be kept in the rings of the ark. The mercy seat refers to the “lid” (Good News Translation) of solid gold, or “propitiatory” (New American Bible), that was be the “cover” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) for the ark. And the veil of the screen is changed in New Revised Standard Version to “the curtain for the screen,” but it is better rendered as “the covering curtain.” This refers only to the veil, or “curtain” (Good News Translation), separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place (31.33). Good News Translation has “the curtain to screen it off,” and Contemporary English Version has “the curtain in front of it.” The same word for screen is used in 26.36 for the “curtain” that was to hang at the entrance to the enclosure, and it is used with this meaning in verse 15 below.

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 .