cubit

The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek that is translated as “cubit” or into a metric or imperial measurement in English is translated in Kutu, Kwere, and Nyamwezi as makono or “armlength.” Since a cubit is the measurement from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, one armlength (measured from the center of the chest to the fingertips) equals two cubits or roughly 1 meter. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Similarly, in Akoose, the translation is “arm distance.” (Source: Joseph Nkwelle Ngome and Marlie van Rooyen & Jacobus A. Naudé in Communicatio 2009, p. 251ff.)

In Klao it is converted into “hand spans” (app. 6 inches or 12 cm) and “finger spans” (app. 1 inch or 2 cm) (source: Don Slager) and in Bariai into leoa or “fathom,” which comprises the distance from a person’s fingertip to fingertip with arms outstretched, app. 6 feet (source: Bariai Back Translation).

distance (long / wide / high)

The concepts of distance that are translated in English with “long,” “wide,” and “high/tall” are translated in Kwere with one word: utali. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Ezekiel 41:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 41:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then he measured the House of God. The length of the house reached one hundred and seventy-five feet. And from the wall of the courtyard of the House of God through the empty space to the house on the side of West, was a length of one hundred and seventy-five feet.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then the man measured the temple, and 170 feet was its length. The distance from the back of the temple going-towards the other stone-wall of the building in the west was 170 feet.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then the man measured the temple. It was 175 feet/53 meters long, and the temple courtyard, where the large building was, including its walls was also 175 feet/53 meters wide.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 41:13

Then he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long: The connector Then introduces the next event. Next Ezekiel’s guide measured the outside of the Temple. It was a hundred cubits long, that is, 50 meters (168 feet) long (measuring east to west).

And the yard and the building with its walls, a hundred cubits long: Next the man measured from the back of the Temple to the back of the west building (measuring east to west). That distance included the yard, that is, the separating area between the Temple and the west building (see verse 12), which was 20 cubits (10 meters) wide (see verse 10). The total distance was exactly the same as the length of the Temple itself, namely, a hundred cubits, that is, 50 meters (168 feet).

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 .