many bones

In Gbaya, the notion of many bones scattered in the ground in Ezekiel 37:2 is emphasized with the ideophone sót-sót that refers to small things scattered on the ground; bones, skeleton.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

complete verse (Ezekiel 37:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 37:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “He took me around walking all over the valley. I saw a countless number of bones that were dried up.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The LORD led- me -around there, and I saw the very many bones which were-scattered there in the valley. The bones were very dry.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “He led me to walk back and forth among those bones. I saw that there were very many bones there, bones that were very dry.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 37:2

And he led me round among them: The pronoun he refers to Yahweh, which Contemporary English Version makes explicit by saying “The LORD.” He led me is literally “he caused me to pass by” (similarly King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible). It is not certain whether Ezekiel walked, or whether God transported him in some other way in the vision. Therefore translators will need to use a general verb here. Contemporary English Version renders led me as “showed me,” which is a helpful model because it does not commit itself to any form of motion. Round among them is literally “among them around around.” The Hebrew text repeats the word for “around,” which implies that Ezekiel had to keep going among the bones for a long time to see them all. New International Version and New International Reader’s Version say “back and forth among them,” New Jerusalem Bible has “up and down and all around among them,” Christian Community Bible translates “to and fro among them,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh uses simply “all around them.”

And behold, there were very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry: Ezekiel saw many very dry bones on the valley floor. Behold and lo each render the Hebrew attention-getting particle hinneh. This particle occurs seven times in this subunit. Here it adds vividness to the description of what Ezekiel saw in the vision, but it also contributes to a sense of surprise at the number and dryness of the bones. Upon the valley is literally “on the face of the valley,” which means on the surface of the valley (compare New Living Translation “the valley floor”). They were very dry shows that the people whose bones they were had been dead for a long time, implying that there was no chance at all that they would be able to come back to life again. The fact that the bones were spread out on the surface of the valley shows that no one had buried the people when they died. Very many … very dry is a play on words. It would be good to reflect this repetition in translation, if possible. A model that does this is “There in the valley, there were very many bones. And I looked and saw that they were very dry.”

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 .