mandrake

The Hebrew that is translated in English typically as “mandrake” is translated in various French translations (Traduction Œcuménique de la Bible, Nouvelle Français courant, Parole de Vie) as pommes d’amour or “love apples” which indicates the function as an aphrodisiac (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin). Likewise, in a number of German translations (Luther, Gute Nachricht Bibel), Liebesäpfel with the same meaning is used. Incidentally, in both German and French the respective terms also refer to candy apples .

In Elhomwe it is translated as woohura, a traditional medicine that “turns infertility to fertility” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext) and in Nyamwezi as ntalantu’, a plant that “is known to have many medicinal purposes for womanhood, one of those is fertility” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext).

complete verse (Genesis 30:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 30:14:

  • Newari: “One day during the time of wheat harvest, Reuben went to the field. He found mandrakes there and brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel said to Leah –” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “One time during harvest-season of wheat, Reuben went to the field and he saw a mandrake/[mandragora] plant. He picked some fruit and brought-(it) to his mother Lea. When Raquel saw those she said to Lea, ‘Give me also some mandragora which your son has-brought.'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When it was time to harvest wheat, Reuben went out into the fields and saw some mandrakes/plants that women eat to help them to become pregnant. He brought some of them to his mother Leah. But Rachel saw them and said to Leah, ‘Please give me some of those plants that your son brought to you!'” (Source: Translation for Translators)

wheat

Two kinds of wild wheat have grown in the open deciduous oak woodland in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent for several thousand years: Einkorn Wheat Triticum monococcum and Emmer Wheat Triticum dicoccum. Both came into cultivation together with barley. Just before the time of the Romans, the Naked Bread Wheat or Hard Wheat Triticum durum started replacing the hulled varieties. This then became the favorite type of wheat for bread and macaroni. Spelt is a sub-member of the Triticum aestivum species.

In NRSVue and some other versions, the generic Hebrew word bar has been rendered “wheat” in Jeremiah 23:28 et al. This is legitimate, since the grain referred to by bar was probably wheat. However, it might be better to say “grain” in these passages.

The most important early wheat for the Israelites was emmer, probably the only wheat known in Egypt, and referred to in Hebrew as chittah. However, according to Hepper (Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Plants: Flowers and Trees, Fruits and Vegetables, Ecology. Baker Book House, 1992), the seven-headed wheat of the Egyptian king’s dream (Genesis 41:5ff.) suggests that there may also have been Triticum turgidum (rivet wheat) in the emmer group. The Hebrew word kusemeth probably refers to a type of emmer wheat that the Egyptians called swt.

Wheat is a type of grass like rice and barley, growing to around 75 centimeters (2.5 feet) in height and having a head with many small grains in rows.

Bread made from wheat was the staple food for the people of ancient Israel, so God punished them by breaking “the staff of bread” (see, for example, Ezekiel 4:16).

If wheat is unfamiliar, translators can transliterate from a major language in non-rhetorical contexts (for example, English witi, Portuguese trigo, French ble or froment, Swahili ngano, Arabic kama/alkama). The transliteration may add a generic tag such as “grain.” The New Testament passages are mostly rhetorical, opening the possibility for a metaphorical equivalent.

Wheat head, photo by Gloria Suess

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 30:14

Verse 14 begins a brief episode (verses 14-16) about the jealousy and bad feeling between Jacob’s wives.

In the days of the wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field: wheat harvest refers to the time when the wheat is cut and gathered. If wheat is unknown in the translator’s language, another grain such as rice may be substituted. If there is no grain harvest, it may be necessary to say, for example, “At the time of gathering in crops from the gardens….”

Mandrakes translates a Hebrew word that refers to a plant with large leaves and yellow or purple flowers. For illustration and description see Fauna and Flora of the Bible, pages 138-139|fig:ffb_Mandrake.htm. The mandrake, also called “love apple,” was believed to stimulate sexual desire when eaten and to help women to become pregnant. See Good News Translation footnote. This plant is mentioned in Song 7.13. A form of the Hebrew word is used in Ezek 16.8, “an age for love,” referring to sexual love.

In translation of this term it may be necessary to substitute a local plant that is believed to have the same powers as the mandrake. If no such plant is known, it may be possible to use a descriptive expression such as “plant that women eat to help them become pregnant” or “plant that helps women to have children.” Two examples from translations in the Pacific area are “a flowering plant that women eat to help them get children, and which is used as a love magic” and “some bush medicine that was growing there, a good medicine to help women to have babies.”

The field in which the boy Reuben found the mandrakes is the wheat field, which is a cultivated field in contrast to the open lands where the animals graze.

Give me, I pray, some of your son’s mandrakes: Rachel hopes that these plants will help her to become pregnant. It may be necessary to add “to eat.”

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 .

respectful form of "give" (kudasaru)

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 to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In these verses, kudasaru (下さる), a respectful form of kureru (くれる) or “give” is used. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also respectful form of “give” (tamawaru) and give (Japanese honorifics).