Great Sea

The Hebrew that is translated in English as “Great Sea” or similar is translated in Khoekhoe as “Mediterranean Sea.” (Source: project-specific notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Ezekiel 47:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 47:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “Fishermen will stand at the bank of the lake catching fish from En-gedi to En-eglaim. They will dry their nets on the shore. Lots of fish shall fill up that lake of salt like it is in the ocean of Mediterranea.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Many will-fish in the Dead Sea from En-Gedi towards En-Eglaim. The seashore will-be-full of nets which are being-dried under/in the heat. The different fish in the Dead Sea will-increase like in the Sea of Mediteraneo.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Fishermen will stand along the bank of the Dead Sea to catch fish. From En-Gedi on the western side to En-Eglaim on the eastern side there will be places for fishermen to spread their fishing nets. There will be many kinds of fish, like there are in the Mediterranean Sea.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

In Malagasy culture, the sea is perceived as sacred because it was a path taken by the ancestors. That is why the Malagasy word for the “sea” is ranomasina, which literally means “the sacred water.” The word masina actually has two different meanings: “salted” and “sacred/holy.” Salt is used for the conservation of some foods, such as meat or fish, that are to be set aside for later use. In this sense, the Malagasy phrase for “Holy Spirit” has the literal meaning of “Salted Spirit.” (Source: Brigitte Rabarijaona in The Bible Translator 2022, p. 103ff.)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 47:10

Fishermen will stand beside the sea means people will be catching fish in the Dead Sea.

From En-gedi to En-eglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets: En-gedi was an oasis halfway along the western shore of the Dead Sea, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) southeast of Jerusalem. Good News Translation says “Springs of Engedi,” which is actually a double translation because the transliterated Hebrew word En itself means “spring”; the whole name means “spring of the kid.” No one knows where En-eglaim was, but most scholars think that it was a spring or an oasis on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. By putting these two names together, the angelic guide is saying that the whole Dead Sea will be suitable for fishing, in much the same way that Americans can say “from New York to Los Angeles” to mean the whole country. The shores of the Dead Sea will be a place for the spreading of nets. In ancient times fishermen used to spread out their fishing nets on rocks or on the beach to dry in the sun after they had finished their work. New Living Translation renders this whole clause as “All the way from En-gedi to En-eglaim, the shores will be covered with nets drying in the sun.”

Different translations relate the places En-gedi and En-eglaim to different clauses in this verse. Some take them with the fishermen standing on the shore of the Dead Sea; for example, New Living Translation (1996) says “Fishermen will stand along the shores of the Dead Sea, fishing all the way from En-gedi to En-eglaim” (similarly New Revised Standard Version, King James Version / New King James Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Moffatt). Others take these places with the spreading of the fishing nets; for example, New International Version has “from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets” (similarly Revised Standard Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible). Still others think that both fishing and drying of nets will be done in the area of these two places; for example, Contemporary English Version translates “From En-Gedi to Eneglaim, people will fish in the sea and dry their nets along the coast” (similarly Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, Christian Community Bible, Complete Jewish Bible). The Hebrew seems to favor the second alternative, but since people dry their nets in the same areas where they fish, there is little difference in meaning. We therefore recommend that translators choose either the second or third alternative.

Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea means the Dead Sea will have many different kinds of fish, just like the Mediterranean Sea. The Great Sea is the Mediterranean Sea. New Century Version says “There will be many kinds of fish in the Dead Sea, as many as in the Mediterranean Sea.”

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 .