bronze

The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “bronze” in English is translated in Newari as “bell-metal,” since bells are made of bronze in Nepal (source: Newari Back Translation).

See also bronze vessel.

complete verse (Exodus 38:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 38:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “All the pillars for that courtyard were standing on things of bronze. And the runners and clips/hooks they are to be made from silver and/but the pillars are to be covered with silver at the top/head.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The poles around the courtyard were joined with silver ropes, its hooks were of silver and bases were of bronze. But the top of pillars were overlaid with silver.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The bases of the posts (were) bronze, and the hooks and the rods of-this (were) silver. The heads/tops of the posts (were) covered/overlaid with silver. All the posts around in the yard/courtyard had silver rods.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “And they took bras for making all the fence’s post-bases. And they took silva for making the hooks and cross-pieces for each of the posts. And they enwrapped the tops (lit. heads) of the posts with wide pieces of silva also. [Since] it was like that then all the cross-pieces of the posts, they were only silva.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “They make planting-hole of fence all with metal red, and they make its beams with that which they pound be crooked head with gold white. Therefore, wood of fence all have beam which be gold white.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “All the posts around the courtyard were made of bronze, but the tops were covered with silver. The posts were connected with metal rods covered with silver. The clasps/fasteners and hooks were made of silver.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 38:17

This verse is similar to 27.17, but the items are listed in different order. The bases are listed first, then the hooks and the fillets. (For hooks see the comment at 26.32; for fillets see the comment at 27.10.)

Their capitals refers to “the tops of the posts” (Good News Translation), as in 36.38. (See the comment there.) They are not mentioned in 27.17. Since these pillars were a greater distance from the Holy of Holies, their “tops” (Good News Translation) were overlaid with silver rather than gold. Only the pillars of the tent itself had the gold.

All the pillars … filleted with silver is literally “they [were] filleted [with] silver all pillars of the court.” This is almost identical with the first part of 27.17. Only the word order is changed. As explained there, this may mean either that each post had “silver bands” (New International Version), or that they were all “connected with silver rods” (Good News Translation). Contemporary English Version combines verses 9-17, summarizing the repeated information. Some translators will find this model helpful:

• Around the sacred tent Bezalel built a courtyard one hundred fifty feet long on the south and north and seventy-five feet wide on the east and west. He used twenty bronze posts on bronze stands for the south and north and ten for the west. Then he hung a curtain of fine linen on the posts along each of these three sides by using silver hooks and rods. He placed three bronze posts on each side of the entrance at the east and hung a curtain seven and a half yards wide on each set of posts.

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 .