The Hebrew that “she (he, they) lifted up her (his, their) voice(s) and wept” is translated in Chol as “she (he, they) began to cry.”
distance of a bowshot
The Hebrew in Genesis 21:16 that is translated as “distance of a bowshot” in English is translated in Nyamwezi as ntambo igana li’mo or “about 100 paces,” since the distance of a bowshot did not communicate distance very well. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Hagar and Her Child in the Wilderness
Artwork by Sister Marie Claire , SMMI (1937–2018) from Bengaluru, India.
For more information about images by Sister Marie Claire and ways to purchase them as lithographs, see here . For other images of Sister Marie Claire paintings in TIPs, see here.
The following is an artwork by Frank Wesley (1923-2002):
“Frank Wesley is a fifth generation Indian Christian born in 1923 in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. He comes from a long line of artists. Wesley studied art in Lucknow where his Hindu professor inspired him not only in his art but also in an appreciation of Jesus Christ and his teaching.
Hagar was painted in water colour on paper and is in a private collection in Bangalore, India. The color washes have been manipulated with a palette knife on rough paper to emphasize the hard rocks which symbolize Hagar’s life as a bond-maid.
“Abraham and Sarah are honored as the founders of the nation of Israel. Abraham’s trust in God to lead him out of Babylon and his willingness to sacrifice his own son are quoted as signs of his great faith. But because Abraham and Sarah were people of wealth and privilege most Asian Christians have difficulty identifying with them. In recent years, many Asians have rediscovered Hagar as a person with whom they can have genuine empathy. Frank Wesley’s moving painting shows Hagar alone in the wilderness. She is prepared to die when the angel meets her. In the midst of hopelessness, God reveals to her that her son Ishmael will be the father of a great nation.” (Source for this and the image: The Bible Through Asian Eyes by Masao Takenaka and Ron O’Grady 1991)
complete verse (Genesis 21:16)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 21:16:
- Kankanaey: “She went and sat not very far-away, because she thought to herself (lit. said in her thoughts), ‘I can- not -bear to see my child die.’ Then she began to cry.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Newari: “went far away and sat down. Not being able to see her son die, she did like this. And she stayed there and wept bitterly.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “and she walked ahead the distance of about 100 meters from the child. There she sat-down and wept saying to herself, ‘I can- not -endure/suffer to-watch my child die.'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- English: “Then she went and sat nearby, about as far as someone can shoot an arrow/100 meters away, because she thought, ‘I cannot endure seeing my son die!’ As she sat there, she began to cry loudly.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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)
Translation commentary on Genesis 21:16
Then she went, and sat down over against him a good way off: according to the end of the verse, Hagar wanted to be far enough away from her child not to watch him die. The narrator has therefore emphasized the distance with went … over against [opposite] … a good way off. All of this may be more clearly translated as “went some distance away and sat down.”
About the distance of a bowshot: this expression will be quite graphic to people who are accustomed to using the bow and arrow, but will have little or no meaning for others. Some scholars interpret the word for bowshot as being a dual form, and so New English Bible has “about two bowshots away.” Note, however, that Revised English Bible has “about a bowshot distant.” Translators appear to have at least three choices in translating this expression: to keep the Hebrew expression, to substitute a known expression involving some other weapon, or to use a standard measurement of distance. Good News Translation does the last: “about a hundred yards [meters] away.”
For she said: as Hagar is not speaking to someone, she is, as it were, thinking aloud, or as Good News Translation and others translate, “she said to herself.” We may also render this “She thought to herself.”
Let me not look upon the death of the child: Let me not look is the command form of the verb “to see.” We may also express this in English as “Don’t let me see” or “I don’t want to see.” Revised English Bible translate as a rhetorical question: “How can I watch the child die?” This may also be rendered, for example, “I can’t bear to watch the child die.”
And as she sat over against him: this is similar to the expression earlier in the verse and means “while she was sitting there.”
The child lifted up his voice and wept: note that in Revised Standard Version it is the child who cries, but in Good News Translation “she began to cry.” The Revised Standard Version footnote shows that it follows the Septuagint; Good News Translation follows the Hebrew text. Why, we may ask, would Septuagint say “the child,” when the Hebrew text clearly says “she”? (In Hebrew the words “raised,” “voice,” and “wept” all have feminine singular affixes.) The answer probably is that the Septuagint translators, noticing that God hears the voice of the child twice in verse 17, modified verse 16 to agree with verse 17. This is not necessary; as Hebrew Old Testament Text Project remarks, “verse 16 describes Hagar’s despair; verse 17 introduces the initiative of God.” Accordingly the Handbook recommends translating the Hebrew text, as in Good News Translation.
Another way of translating the last part of the verse is to link Hagar’s crying with what she was thinking about the child; for example, in one translation “… she began to cry, because she didn’t want to see the child die.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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