horn

The musical instrument that is most often translated as “(ram’s) horn” or “trumpet” in English is translated in the following ways:

  • Yakan: tabuli’ (big sea shell used to give signals) (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Apal: “bamboo bugle” (source: Martha Wade in The Bible Translator 2022, p. 26ff.)
  • Tibetan “yak’s horn” (a traditional instrument in Tibetan culture) (source: David Clark in Clark / Desnitsky 2009 , p. 23)
  • Mairasi / Bariai: “Triton shell trumpet” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • German Luther translation: Posaune, today: “trombone,” originally with the meaning of a wind instrument made from cow horn (from Latin bucina [bovi- / “cow” + the root of cano / “sing”]. Incidentally, bucina is also used in the Latin Vulgate translation). By the time of Luther’s translation it referred to the natural trumpet or a fanfare trumpet (see also trumpet). Once the meaning morphed to “trombone” in the 19th century, trombone ensembles started to play a central role in Protestant German churches and do so to the present day. In 2016, “Posaunenchöre” became added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list . (Note that Exodus 19:13 is the only exception in the Luther Bible. From the 1956 revision on, Widderhorn or “ram’s horn” is used here) (source: Zetzsche)

In the UBS Helps for Translators‘ Human-made Things in the Bible (original title: The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible) it says the following:

Description: The horn was a wind instrument made from the horn of an animal, usually a male sheep.

Usage: The animal horn was softened so that it could be shaped. The point of the horn was cut off to leave a small opening through which the user blew. The vibration of the lips produced the sound.

The ram’s horn served two general purposes:

1. It was blown in certain religious contexts, not as musical accompaniment to worship but as a signal for important events. Some of these events were the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, the Day of Atonement, the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, and the coronation of kings.

2. It also served as a signal or alarm when war was approaching. Such references are particularly common in the prophetic books, when the prophets are calling the people to repent (Hosea 5:8; 8:1; Joel 2:1; 2:15; Amos 3:6).

Translation: In many passages the purpose of the ram’s horn called shofar in Hebrew was to sound an alarm. This will be easy to express in those cultures where the horns of animals are used as musical instruments to give signals to large groups of people. In other cultures it may be possible to find another instrument that is used for an equivalent purpose. In some languages, for example, instruments such as bells or drums are the warnings for war. Some translations have transliterated the word shofar. Unless the instrument is well known, such a borrowing should normally be accompanied by a footnote or a glossary entry.

In some passages it will be necessary to expand the translation in order to indicate that the blowing of the ram’s horn was not just for music; for example, in Ezekiel 7:14 Contemporary English Version has “A signal has been blown on the trumpet,” and the German Contemporary English Version says “An alarm is sounded” [elsewhere, the same German version refers to the horns as Kriegshörner or “war horns.”]

Man blowing ram’s horn (source: Knowles, revised by Bass (c) British and Foreign Bible Society 1994)

Quoted with permission.

complete verse (Ezekiel 33:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 33:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “But if the man who keeps watch has seen the enemy and does not warn people so that one sinner is killed, he is the one who has caused (him) to die.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But if the one-who-watches saw that the enemies were now approaching but he did not sound the trumpet to warn the people, and they were-attacked and there were-dead among them, I will-ask-for-payment of the one-who-watches for their death even-though they died because of their sin too.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But if the watchman sees the enemy army coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people, and one of his people is killed by an enemy sword, that person will die because of his sin, but I will consider that the watchman is responsible for that man’s death.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 33:6

This verse addresses the case where the watchman does not do his duty and fails to warn the people of the coming danger. If some of them die as a result, God will hold the watchman responsible for their deaths.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned: See Ezek 33.3. A possible model here is “However, if the watchman sees the enemy coming and does not blow the horn to warn the people.”

And the sword comes may be rendered “and the enemy attacks.”

And takes any one of them is literally “and takes from them [a] life.” This clause may refer to one or more than one person being killed by the enemy. New Century Version says “and kills any of them,” and New International Reader’s Version has “and kill one of them.”

That man is taken away in his iniquity: The Hebrew here may be understood in two ways. It may mean “they have died because of their own sin” (New Century Version; similarly New International Reader’s Version). This interpretation reflects the ancient view that death is the result of some sin. Another interpretation is that, because the watchman had not sounded the warning, these people had not had the chance to repent of their sins and were still living their sinful lives when they died (so Revised English Bible, which renders this clause and the previous one as “and if anyone who is killed is caught with his sins on him”). This interpretation adds another reason to why the watchman is guilty, but either interpretation is acceptable. The Hebrew word for iniquity refers to sin that is due to crookedness of character (see the comments on 3.19).

But his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand: See the comments on 3.18. If the watchman fails to warn the people of the coming danger, God will hold him responsible if someone dies. Good News Translation says “but I will hold the lookout responsible for their death” (similarly Contemporary English Version), and New Century Version has “But I will punish the watchman for their deaths.” Models for this clause and the previous one are “The enemy kills that sinful person [or, that person who is still a sinner], but I will hold the watchman responsible for his death” and “The enemy kills those sinful people, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their deaths.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .