early morning

In Gbaya, the notion of early morning is emphasized with the ideophone sút as in the referenced verses.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

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)

Jacob

The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is transliterated as “Jacob” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “lentil,” referring to the soup he gave his brother in exchange for his birthright (see Genesis 25:34). Note that another Spanish Sign Language sign for Jacob also users the sign for Jewish. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Jacob” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In German Sign Language it is a sign that shows the touching of the hip, described in Genesis 32:25:


“Jacob” in German Sign Language (source: Taub und katholisch )

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the signs signifying “smooth arm” (referring to the story starting at Genesis 27:11). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Jacob” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a sign signifying Jacob grabbing the heel of Esau during their birth (referring to Genesis 25:26). (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia )


“Jacob” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Esau.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jacob .

complete verse (Genesis 28:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 28:18:

  • Kankanaey: “When it was-light then (i.e. next day), Jacob got-up early and he stood-upright the stone that he-had-used-as-pillow so-that that is-what-would-remind-him of what happened. Then he poured-on-it oil to offer/dedicate it to God.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Early morning Jacob got up and he stood the rock, on which he had rested his head to sleep, on end as a memorial [lit.: a sign of memory]. Then he pour oil on top of it.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Jacob got-up very early-in-the-morning. He took the stone which he had-used-as-a-pillow and set-it-up as a remembrance. Then he poured-over it oil so-that (it) would-become sacred.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “In the morning Jacob got up and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up on its end to show that the place was a holy place. He poured some olive oil on top of the stone to dedicate it to God.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 28:18

So Jacob rose early in the morning: So renders the common Hebrew connective, which is better expressed here in English as a time clause; for example, “When Jacob got up in the morning.” Or without a time clause it may be expressed as in Good News Translation.

Set it up for a pillar: set it up means that Jacob stood it on end, set it upright. Pillar translates a word that refers to a stone that is stood upright in a place to mark it as a sacred spot. Such pillars erected by the Canaanites were later ordered to be destroyed in Exo 23.24; 2 Kgs 10.26-27.

In translation it may be necessary to say, for example, “He took the stone he had used for a pillow and stood it on end to show this place was holy” or “He took the stone he had slept on and stood it on end to mark this as a place where God had appeared to him.” In some parts of the world, stone or concrete pillars are commonly set up as memorials to past events or to people, and the terms for “pillar” reflect this. Translations in such places often say something like “he stood it up as a memorial of what had happened.”

And poured oil on the top of it: the pouring of oil was to ritually consecrate the stone as set apart for God from other stones. It may be necessary to state that the oil is “olive oil.” On the top means that Jacob poured the oil on the upper end of the stone. In some cases it will be necessary to make clear the purpose of Jacob’s symbolic act. Note that Good News Translation does this with “dedicate it to God.”

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 .