14And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,
The Hebrew that is translated as “And God said, ‘Let there be…” in English is translated in Yoruba as “God commanded that there should be…” (Bibeli Mimọ Yorùbá, 2010).
Solomon Abegunde explains (in The Bible Translator 1991, p, 242ff. ): “When God speaks, for instance, in the [Yoruban] way of thinking he speaks with the authority of a king. He does not need to ask permission from anybody to do what he wants to do. Translators should be aware of this as they translate the words ‘Let there be’ in Genesis 1. The extension of his personality comes out more forcefully if the Hebrew is rendered ‘Be’ and the verb is translated ‘commanded’ rather than ‘said.'”
The Hebrew and Ge’ez that is translated as “firmament,” “expanse,” or “dome” in English is translated in Roviana as galegalearane: “the open space between the earth and the sky,” in Moru as “empty space” and in Hausa as sararin sama or “space of the sky” (Sabon Rai Don Kowa, publ. 2020).
In Idoma it is translated as okpanco — “the top of the sky.” “According to tradition, when the world began, the okpanco was low. A woman was pounding yams and her pestle kept hitting okpanco and it started going higher and higher.”
In Naskapi it is translated as “sky skin” — “like a caribou skin.”
(Sources: Roviana: Carl Gross; Moru: Jan Sterk; Hausa: Andy Warren-Rothlin; Idoma: Rob Koops; Naskapi: Doug Lockhart in Word Alive 2013 )
In Lingala it is translated as “surface.” Sigurd F. Westberg (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 117ff. ) explains: “The ‘firmament’ in Genesis 1 gave us another problem. Its meaning in English is certainly not immediately obvious. The dictionary tells us that the Hebrew means something close to our English word ’expanse.’ It seems, however, that the Hebrew idea may not always have been as abstract as that, for Isaiah says that the Lord ‘stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.’ But the Greek word used in the Septuagint gives the idea of a firm and solid structure, and this is the idea that is carried out in our English word ‘firmament.’ Modern translations into English, Swedish, Norwegian and French take one or the other of these two leads. It is the predicament of the translator that he dare not hesitate too long between ideas. (…) In this case we tried to arrive at ’expanse’ by the use of a word meaning ’width,’ but we found that it is not really understandable except as it is associated with the noun of which it indicates the width. It cannot be used alone. The word we finally used means ‘surface,’ but it also has the idea of something stretched out or smoothed out. It is more concrete than we should like, but it does not require identity with a concrete object as does the word for width’.’
In Newari it is translated as “upper part of water” (Gen. 1:6 is translated “height between two portions of water”) (source: Newari Back Translation), in Bariai as “barrier” (source: Bariai Back Translation), and in Hiligaynon as “division” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation).
In Tenharim a translation for “firmament” was not deemed possible because there were no overlaps in the world view of the Tenharim speakers and that of the cosmology of Genesis. LaVera Betts (in: Notes on Translation, September 1971, p. 16ff.) explains: “[In their view,] heaven’s edge is curbed and solid. It can become meshed releasing the water above it onto the clouds, which to the Parintintín [the Tenharim speakers] are gathered wind, in order for this water to be dispersed in the form of rain. An entrance, position and description unknown, is available to the occupants of the layers of heaven through which they may pass to the world. To each layer of heaven and heaven as a whole they apply the same word: yvaga.
“The sun, moon, and stars attach to the world’s side of heaven’s edge. The sun and moon have separate paths-the moon making a half revolution and returning, and the sun making a complete revolution. No all-inclusive term for the heavenly bodies, earth, and the expanse between them so far has been encountered in Parintintín. Nor has there been found a suitable term for this expanse alone. During the day the expanse could be called the open/clear space: mytuêa; but at night it disappears into heaven and night takes its place. Its occurrence, then, is contingent on the presence of light and therefore inappropriate for expressing firmament (Genesis 1:6).
“To translate ‘firmament’ as a vault the translator possibly could have used heaven’s edge which, although suiting their world view grandly, poses problems in the translator’s mind especially as to the restricted meaning it would force on the translation for them. That a good shaman is believed to be able to bring heaven down immediately over the earth reveals that to them the expanse over the earth is empty, or compressible and flexible, and the ‘vault’ movable.
“The possible translation of atmosphere for firmament was settled upon and the term used was ‘wind’: yvytua. The phrase ‘and God called the firmament heaven’ was deleted. A possible alternate ‘and God called the place of the wind heaven’ also was not used as Coriolano [the indigenous translator] did not know where the wind went when it is not seen in the form of clouds nor felt; however, he insisted the wind is everlasting — unlike one’s breath which is not lasting. Animates do not breathe air/wind but their hearts pump their own breath.”
The Hebrew that is translated in English as “light” is translated in Newari as “white light.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
In Tenharim the translation is mytuêa or “open/clear space.” LaVera Betts (in: Notes on Translation, September 1971, p. 16ff.) explains: “According to Catarina, the chief’s wife, the moon is a woman and the stars, also considered snails, are her children. In Gen 1:14, therefore, ‘the lights in the firmament of heaven’ is translated literally ‘the lamps/illuminating things on the heaven’ to eliminate the idea of the moon, etc. being animate. To express the idea of light (Gen. 1:3), then, without the presence yet of the sun, moon, or stars, the term open/clear space: mytuêa, was used. Neither the heavenly bodies nor artificial lights nor their obvious rays have to be seen in order for this term to be appropriate. It is a term indicating merely the opposite of no light, that is, the opposite of darkness; and since there were no objects to fill in the space, it still is true in the other sense of the term. Other terms meaning light involved the presence of the sun, moon, stars, or artificial lighting.”
In Idoma, the normal word for “light” is “fire,” so ofíajɛ or “shining” was used instead (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
The Hebrew in Genesis 1:14 that is translated as “lights in the dome of the sky” or similar in English is translated in Tenharim as “the lamps/illuminating things on the heaven.” LaVera Betts (in: Notes on Translation, September 1971, p. 16ff.) explains: “According to Catarina, the chief’s wife, the moon is a woman and the stars, also considered snails, are her children. In Gen 1:14, therefore, ‘the lights in the firmament of heaven’ is translated literally ‘the lamps/illuminating things on the heaven’ to eliminate the idea of the moon, etc. being animate.”
The following is a stained glass window from the Three choir windows in the Marienkirche, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, of the 14th century, depicting God creating the celestial bodies:
Source: Der gläserne Schatz: Die Bilderbibel der St. Marienkirche in Frankfurt (Oder), Neuer Berlin Verlag, 2005, copyright for this image: Brandenburgisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologisches Landesmuseum
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
The following is an overview of the creation story in Israeli Sign Language and its back-translation into English.
Genesis chapter 1 tells us how God created the world in the beginning.
In the beginning of all things there was deep water without boundaries. Darkness was everywhere. The Spirit of God moved over the waters.
On the first day God made light. God saw the light: it was good! God divided the light from the darkness.
The second day.
On the second day there was endless water everywhere. What did God do? He divided the waters up and down and put a strong arch in the middle. What did God call this arch? The sky. The waters are deep below, under the arch, and the waters are deep above, above the arch.
The third day.
What was the world like on the third day? Here is the firmament. Below it is the great expanse of water. What did God do? He gathered the waters together in one place. The place without water was dry land. God called the dry land ‘earth’. In sign language we make the gesture ‘EARTH’. God called the collection of water ‘seas’. In sign language we make the gesture ‘sea’.
And God made different plants grow from the dry land — herbs, flowers, fruit trees.
The fourth day.
On the fourth day, God made the sun, the moon and the stars. God put the sun and the moon on the firmament. And he put the stars all around the firmament. What are the sun, moon and stars for? They shine down on the earth. Because of the sun, moon and stars, we know when the days and nights are; the months and seasons change.
The fifth day.
On the fifth day, in the depths of the water, God made various sea creatures, large and small, and various fish. And on the earth God made all kinds of birds. The birds fly between the earth and the sky. God blessed the birds and the sea creatures and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply”.
The sixth day.
On the sixth day, God made various land animals on the earth — large animals, small animals, domestic animals, wild animals, reptiles and insects.
And on the sixth day God made man — male and female. God gave them His face. God blessed man and woman equally. God gave all animals to man. Man is God’s last and most important creation.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 1:14:
Kankanaey: “God spoke again and he said, ‘There-will-be lights in the sky so that the daytime and night will-be-separated and so that days and years will also be distinguished and likewise also the rainy-season and dry-season” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Newari: “Then God said — ‘May there be light in the heavens to separate day and night. And this will be a sign for recognizing days, years, and festivals.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Then God said, ‘Let-be-created in the sky the things that have light to separate the day and the night, and as-a sign of-the beginning of-the seasons, days and years.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then God said, ‘I want a sun, a moon, and many stars to shine in the sky. The sun will shine in the daytime and the moon and stars will shine during the nighttime. By the changes in their appearance they will indicate the various seasons (OR, the times for special celebrations), and will enable people to know when days and years begin.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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