camel

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated in English as “camel” is translated in Muna as “water buffalo.” René van den Berg explains: “Camels are unknown; the biggest known animal is the water buffalo (though now rare on Muna).”

In Bislama is is translated as buluk: “cow” / “bull” (source: Ross McKerras) and in Bahnar as aseh lăk-đa which is a combination of the Vietnamese loan word for “camel” (lăk-đa) and the Bahnar term for “horse” (aseh) to communicate that the camel is a beast of burden (source: Pham Xuan Tin in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 20ff. ).

In the 1900 Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) translation (a newer version was published in 2000) it was as ĸatigagtôĸ or “big-backed ones.” “Katigagtôĸ (modern qatigattooq), which has the literal meaning of ‘something with a big back.’ It comprises the noun ĸatigak (modern qatigak) ‘back’ combined with the suffix –tôĸ (modern –tooq) ‘something possessing a big X.’” (Source: Lily Kahn & Riitta-Liisa Valijärvi in The Bible Translator 2019, p. 125ff.)

In Luke 18:25, Mark 10:25, and Matthew 19:24 some versions of the Peshitta translation in Syriac Aramaic (Classical Syriac) show an ambiguity between the very similar words for “camel” and “rope.” Some translations of the Peshitta, therefore, use the “rope” interpretation, including the Classical Armenian Bible (մալխոյ for “rope”), the English translation by George Lamsa (publ. 1933) (It is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle), or the Dutch translation by Egbert Nierop (publ. 2020) (het voor een kabel eenvoudiger is het oog van een naald binnen te gaan).

In the above-mentioned three verses, it is translated in Noongar as “kangaroo” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

 

There were two types of camel known in Bible times the most common being the Arabian Dromedary camelus dromedarius, which was indigenous to the area. The two-humped Bactrian Camel camelus bactrianus was also known and prized, but it was imported from Central Asia.

Camels belong to the same family as the South American llama, vicuna, alpaca, and guanaco, but camels are much larger and have a big fatty hump on their backs. Bactrian camels may reach a height of about two meters (6.5 feet), while dromedaries are even bigger. Dromedaries are a uniform light fawn color, while Bactrian camels are darker, especially in winter when they grow longer fur.

Camels do not have hooves but a large footpad with two broad toes ideally suited to walking on sand. In other ways too they are ideally suited to life in desert areas. They store excess food in their humps and this makes it possible for them to go a long time without eating. Special blood cells also enable them to go without water for long periods. They also have a very efficient digestive system and can extract the maximum amount of nutrition from apparently dry vegetation. This adaptation to harsh environments means that camels can make long journeys through dry areas which would be beyond the abilities of other types of pack animal such as donkeys. Camels were used for riding and for carrying heavy loads. They were also used to pull carts.

In winter the fur of camels thickens and grows longer and then when summer comes they shed their winter fur in large wads. These wads of camel hair are collected and twisted into cords and ropes or spun into thread which is then used for weaving coarse cloth. This cloth was usually used for making tents but it was sometimes used for making outer robes.
Camels’ milk was used as food and drink but their meat was considered unclean by the Israelites.

In spite of the fact that camels were considered to be unclean for food they were a symbol of wealth and commerce. People or nations with many camels were automatically viewed as commercially successful and wealthy as the possession of camels opened up the possibility of transporting goods long distances and engaging in trade.

In areas where camels are not known, the word is often transliterated from Hebrew or the dominant language of the area. However, in some languages descriptive names have been invented. In some South American languages names meaning “hump-backed llama” or “big alpaca with a hump” have been used. Elsewhere expressions such as “hump-backed horse” have been used. A fuller description should usually be included in a glossary or word list.

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

nose ring

The Hebrew that is translated in English as “nose ring” is translated in Newari as “ear ring.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)

While it’s common for women in Nepal to wear nose rings, in Newar culture this is associated with slave culture, going back to the the 14th century and Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq’sd conquest of Kathmandu and the subsequent enslaving of its people and forced wearing of nose rings for all women to signify his dominance over his new subjects. (See here .)

complete verse (Genesis 24:30)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 24:30:

  • Kankanaey: “When he saw the earrings and what-she-was-wearing-as-a-bracelet and he heard also what she reported, he immediately-ran to the spring to go meet those visitors of theirs. He came-upon Abraham’s slave standing by the camels,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Rebekah’s elder brother Laban, hearing his younger sister’s report, and having seen the bangle and the ear rings that she had put on, quickly went running to the place by the well where Abraham’s servant was standing with the camels.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Her sibling/(brother) Laban was- also there -listening to what she was-telling about what the man had-spoken to her. Laban himself saw the ring and bracelet that Rebeka was-wearing. Therefore he ran going to the well and went to the man whom Rebeka had-said. The man was- still there -standing near the well, alongside the camels.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “He was surprised to have seen the bracelets on his sister’s arms and the nose ring and to have heard Rebekah tell what the man had said to her. So he went out and saw the man standing near the camels, close to the well.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Honorary are / rare constructs denoting God (“say”)

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese show different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morphemes rare (られ) or are (され) are affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Genesis 24:29 - 24:30

There is a problem in the order of the events in these two verses. Accordingly the Handbook suggests combining them. The details will be presented below.

Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban: this sentence interrupts the action to introduce an important character in the story. Some languages require a marker to signal this pause to fill in background information. Note that Good News Translation and others say “Now Rebekah had a brother.” In languages that distinguish between younger and older brother, Laban should be referred to as “older brother.”

In going out to offer hospitality, as well as in taking the lead in the marriage negotiations that follow, Laban is acting as the head of the household. Rebekah’s father Bethuel is mentioned only in verse 50 (where he is named after Laban), and he is not named as receiving any of the presents that the servant gives. So perhaps it may be assumed that he is very old, too old to do any more than be roused to give his consent to the proposed marriage.

And Laban ran out to the man, to the spring: in verse 29 Laban is said to run out to meet the servant. Then in verse 30 the account backs up to tell why he ran out (including a quotation from Rebekah). Then again Laban goes to the well (spring) to meet the servant. In order to avoid an awkward series of movements, some adjustments are required. Good News Translation does not change the order of events but modifies the verb tense in verse 30a from a time clause, “when he saw the ring,” to a flashback, “Laban had seen the nose ring.” This may be satisfactory in some languages.

Another possibility is to combine verses 29-30 and to shift Laban ran out to the man, to the spring to just before the final clause of verse 30. Revised English Bible have taken this option, which may serve as a translation model for some languages:

• Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and, when he saw the nose-ring, and also the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and heard his sister Rebecca’s account of what the man had said to her, he hurried out to the spring. When he got there he found the man still standing by the camels.

In languages that require the distinction between older and younger, Rebekah will be called “younger sister.”

Arms: Hebrew does not distinguish between “arms,” “hands,” and “wrists.” The bracelets would be worn on the wrists, or arms, or both.

Note that what Revised Standard Version places in quotes, “Thus the man spoke to me,” is treated by most modern translations as indirect speech (Good News Translation “had heard her say what the man had told her”).

In these two verses spring replaces “well.” Translators are advised to use one term throughout.

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 .

third person pronoun with high register

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese show different degree of politeness is through the choice of a third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used.

In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also third person pronoun with exalted register.