cor

The Hebrew that is transliterated as “cors” in English or translated into a modern weight measure is translated in Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo as kuntaala or “sacks” since the weight unit is thought to be the equivalent of what a mule can carry. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

In the 1989 Tsonga BIBELE Mahungu Lamanene it is likewise translated into a measurement of a traditional container rather than weight: masaka or “bag.” (Source: The Bible Translator 1998, p. 215ff. )

See also homer.

fat, oil

The different Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

wheat

Two kinds of wild wheat have grown in the open deciduous oak woodland in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent for several thousand years: Einkorn Wheat Triticum monococcum and Emmer Wheat Triticum dicoccum. Both came into cultivation together with barley. Just before the time of the Romans, the Naked Bread Wheat or Hard Wheat Triticum durum started replacing the hulled varieties. This then became the favorite type of wheat for bread and macaroni. Spelt is a sub-member of the Triticum aestivum species.

In New Revised Standard Version, updated edition and some other versions, the generic Hebrew word bar has been rendered “wheat” in Jeremiah 23:28 et al. This is legitimate, since the grain referred to by bar was probably wheat. However, it might be better to say “grain” in these passages.

The most important early wheat for the Israelites was emmer, probably the only wheat known in Egypt, and referred to in Hebrew as chittah. However, according to Hepper (Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Plants: Flowers and Trees, Fruits and Vegetables, Ecology. Baker Book House, 1992), the seven-headed wheat of the Egyptian king’s dream (Genesis 41:5ff.) suggests that there may also have been Triticum turgidum (rivet wheat) in the emmer group. The Hebrew word kusemeth probably refers to a type of emmer wheat that the Egyptians called swt.

Wheat is a type of grass like rice and barley, growing to around 75 centimeters (2.5 feet) in height and having a head with many small grains in rows.

Bread made from wheat was the staple food for the people of ancient Israel, so God punished them by breaking “the staff of bread” (see, for example, Ezekiel 4:16).

If wheat is unfamiliar, translators can transliterate from a major language in non-rhetorical contexts (for example, English witi, Portuguese trigo, French ble or froment, Swahili ngano, Arabic kama/alkama). The transliteration may add a generic tag such as “grain.” The New Testament passages are mostly rhetorical, opening the possibility for a metaphorical equivalent.

Wheat head, photo by Gloria Suess

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Ezra 7:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezra 7:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “He should be given up to three thousand four hundred (3400) kilos of silver, twenty thousand (20,000) kilos of wheat, two thousand two hundred (2,200) liters of wine and two thousand two hundred (2200) liters of olive oil and salt that is not weighed/measured.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Give him up to 3,400 kilograms of silver, up to 10,000 kilograms of wheat, up to 2,000 liters of new wine, up to 2,000 liters of olive oil, and as much salt as he needs.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) (are) to-give him up-to 3,500 kilos of silver, 300 sacks of wheat, 550 gallons of wine, 550 gallons of olive oil, and whatever amount of salt that is needed.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The most that you should give to him is 7,500 pounds/3,400 kg. of silver, 500 bushels of wheat, 550 gallons of wine, and 550 gallons of olive oil, but give to him all the salt that they need.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.

Translation commentary on Ezra 7:22

A hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of oil: It is not possible to give the exact equivalents in modern weights and measures for these goods. If translators choose to retain the Jewish weights and measures, it will be necessary to provide glossary entries to explain their approximate modern-day equivalents. Good News Translation and many other contemporary versions use modern equivalents instead of the biblical borrowed terms. A hundred talents is approximately 3,400 kilograms (7,500 pounds) as calculated in the British and American editions of Good News Translation at 11.3 grams per shekel with 3,000 shekels in a talent. The Australian edition of Good News Translation has 2,800 kilograms calculated at 9.33 grams per shekel. A hundred cors is about 10,000 kilograms as calculated in the British edition of Good News Translation at 100 kilograms per cor (equivalent to the load a donkey can carry). The American edition of Good News Translation has 500 bushels calculated at 5 bushels per cor. The Australian edition of Good News Translation has 13,500 kilograms calculated at 135 kilograms per cor. A hundred baths is about 2,000 liters as calculated in the British and Australian editions of Good News Translation at 20 liters per bath. The American edition of Good News Translation has 550 gallons calculated at 5.5 gallons per bath. The differences in the calculations are due to the lack of certainty by scholars about the exact measurements of the biblical weights at various historical periods.

For silver see the comments at Ezra 1.4. For wheat, wine, and oil, see Ezra 6.9. The type of oil is not specified but is understood to be olive oil, as Good News Translation makes explicit (also Contemporary English Version).

For each commodity in this verse, a limit up to a maximum amount was specified except for salt, which is to be given without prescribing how much (also English Standard Version). This expression is literally “without writing,” meaning no written order is needed. Salt was not a costly commodity at that time.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Ezra. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ezra 7:22

7:22a up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine,

The upper limit ⌊of what you (plur.) may give him⌋ is three thousand four hundred (3,400) kilos/kilograms of silver, ten thousand (10,000) kilos/kilograms of wheat, two thousand (2,000) liters of wine,
-or-
⌊You may supply him with⌋ up to 7,500 pounds of silver and 500 bushels of wheat and 600 gallons of wine

7:22b a hundred baths of olive oil, and salt without limit.

and two thousand (2,000) liters of oil. ⌊You (plur.) must give him⌋ any amount of salt ⌊that he asks for⌋.
-or-
and 600 gallons of olive oil. ⌊Supply him with⌋ as much salt as he requires/needs from you.

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