sanctuary

The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “sanctuary” in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) with opatulika or “separated place.” This is understood in a religious setup as a place designated for worship. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (Exodus 38:27)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 38:27:

  • Kupsabiny: “Three thousand and four hundred (3400) kilos of silver were used to prepare 100 things on which the frames of the Tent of God and the pillars for the curtain that conceals the Inner Room stood on. Each thing (base) took thirty four kilos.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “3,500 kilograms in 100 bases-it means 35 kilograms in each base.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The 3,400 kilos of silver was-used to make 100 bases of-the Tent and the curtains. About 34 kilos each bases.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “And they took some of that silva for making the shelter’s post-bases, and the post-bases for the interior cloth of the shelter. That silva’s heaviness amounted to three thousand four hundred (3,400) kilos. Each of the post-bases had a heaviness which amounted to thirty-four kilos.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “They pound planting-hole which be 100 with gold white which its weight be kilo which be 34,” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “They used 75 pounds/34 kg. of silver for making/casting each of the 100 bases to put under the posts to support the curtains of the Sacred Tent.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 38:27

The hundred talents of silver were is literally “And there was one hundred talent of the silver.” This refers back to verse 25. For casting the bases of the sanctuary indicates that the bases, first mentioned in 26.19, were made by casting. (See the comment there.) The sanctuary, literally “the holy place,” refers to the tent itself, not including the enclosure. The bases of the veil refers to the four bases mentioned in 26.32.

A hundred bases … a talent for a base is a simple calculation showing that the talent must have been the planned measurement for each base. That means that each base weighed “75 pounds” (Good News Translation), or “34 kilograms.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Bezalel used seventy-five pounds of the silver to make each of the one hundred bases for the sacred tent and the curtain.

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 .