20The man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air and to every animal of the field, but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner.
The Greek and Hebrew phrases that are often translated as “birds of the air” in English “refer to the undomesticated song birds or wild birds, to be distinguished in a number of languages from domesticated fowl. In Tzeltal these former are ‘field birds’.” (source: Bratcher / Nida)
Q’anjob’al also uses an established term for non-domesticated birds. Newberry and Kittie Cox (in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. ) explain: “Qʼanjobʼal has two distinct terms, one to identify domesticated birds and the other non-domesticated birds. The additional descriptive phrase ‘of the air’ seemed entirely misleading, for Qʼanjobʼal speakers had never heard of such creatures. Actually, of course, all that was necessary was the term for non-domesticated birds, for that is precisely the meaning of the Biblical expression.”
In Elhomwe they are just translated as “birds” or “birds of the bush” (i.e., wild birds) to “not give the impression that these are special type of birds.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew that is translated in English as “livestock” (or “cattle”) is translated in Newari as “living beings brought up in a house” or “living beings cared for in a house” (source: Newari Back Translation). Specifically “cattle” is “cows and oxen.”
In Kwere it is “animals that are being kept.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
2:1 God had finished creating the heavens and the earth and everything in them. This took seven days, so God worked for seven days creating the heavens and the earth and all the things He placed in them.
2:2 On the seventh day God rested.
2:3 God blessed the seventh day as His own special day. Why? Because he had completed His work creating the heavens and the earth and on this day He rested.
2:4 So that is it.
The heavens and the earth were created by Yahweh a very long time ago. This story is about what happened afterwards.
2:5 The earth had not yet grown green grass or trees. Why? Because Yahweh had not yet made it rain on the earth. There was also no one to sow the land and take care of the plants.
2:6 From deep within the earth, water sprang up and spread over the ground [mud]. This was used to create human.
2:7 Yahweh took this mud from the ground and formed a human. And Yahweh breathed life into the human and he inhaled and became living.
2:8 In the east, Yahweh planted a garden, He named this garden Eden. Then Yahweh took the human he created and placed him in the garden.
2:9 In the garden there were beautiful trees of every different kind that all produced fruits that were good to eat. Among all these trees stood one tree in the middle of the garden that was the tree of life. Next to it was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If someone eats from the tree of life, they will live forever. If they eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they will come to know good and evil.
2:10 A river flowed out of the garden of Eden that nourished the trees. It parted and became four rivers.
2:11 The first river was called Pishon which flowed out into the land called Havilah. Havilah had these three things: a lot of gold,
2:12 Bdellium [gum from a tree that is used to make fragrance] and onyx [a shiny black stone].
2:13 The second river Gihon, which flowed out into the land called Cush.
2:14 The third river called Tigris, flowed out into the land called Assyria in the east. And the fourth river was called Euphrates
2:15 Yahweh placed the human in the garden of Eden to work and take care of it.
2:16 Yahweh commanded the human, “You may eat from any tree in this garden.
2:17 But the tree in the middle- the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you must not eat from this tree. If you disobey me and eat from this tree your life will be ruined and you will die.”
2:18 Yahweh looked at the human and said, “He is lonely, this is not good. I will create another person to help him.”
2:19 Yahweh had already created all the animals. He called all the animals to the man, all the four-legged beasts, the crawling creatures and winged animals, He called them to the man.
2:20 And the man gave names to all the animals. The man gave names to all the animals, to the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the forest, he named them all. The man saw that there were many, many animals but none was human like him.
2:21 So Yahweh caused the man to fall into a very deep sleep. As he slept, Yahweh took one of his ribs from his body and then healed his skin.
2:22 Then Yahweh used the man’s rib to create a woman. He sent her to the man. The man awoke and saw the woman.
2:23 He said, “Finally! A person like me. We are both bone and flesh. We are the same. She was created from my rib. She is ‘woman,’ my companion.”
2:24 This is why a man leaves his mother, his father and family to find a woman who will become his wife and they two will become one.
2:25 The man and the woman were both naked, but they were not ashamed.
Back-translation by Amakedia Wallen, coordinated by Tashi Widmer
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 2:20:
Kankanaey: “And that is where- the names of all the domesticatable and wild animals and birds -came-from. But none were possible to-be-used-as-a-companion for Adan.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Newari: “In this way the man gave names to all the domesticated animals, to the birds in the heavens, and to the animals living in the jungle. Among them, however, there was not a single one that was suitable to help the man.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “So the man named the animals that live on the land including the animals that fly. But not even one of them was-fitting/suitable to become his companion who would help him.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then the man gave names to all the kinds of livestock and birds and wild animals, but none of these creatures was a partner that was suitable for the man.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field: man translates Hebrew ʾadam without the article, and so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends “Adam”; however, most modern translations agree with Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. See discussion in the section “Translating ʾadam” in “Translating Genesis,” page 11. The classification of land animals is now domestic, wild animals, and birds. Nothing is said about the group of small creeping animals. The order differs here from that in 1.20, 24.
But for the man there was not found a helper fit for him: in spite of having looked at and named each of the animals and birds, the man did not find what he was looking for. A helper fit for him is as in verse 18. The passive construction in this clause will have to be made active in many languages; for example, “the man did not find….” Alternatively the expression there was not found may be taken as an idiomatic way of saying “there wasn’t”; for example, one translation has “But in all that lot there wasn’t a real mate for him. No.”
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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