Noah

The Hebrew, Latin; Ge’ez and Greek that is transliterated as “Noah” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that combines the letter N + “boat.” (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


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

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

The following is a stained glass window depicting Noah by Endre Odon Hevezi and Gyula Bajo from 1965 for the Debre Libanos Monastery, Oromia, Ethiopia:

Photo by Timothy A. Gonsalves, hosted by Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Noah .

complete verse (Genesis 8:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 8:6:

  • Kankanaey: “When forty days also/again were finished, Noe opened the window he had made” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Forty days later Noah opened the window of the ship that he built.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “After- another 40 days -had-passed, Noe opened the window of the ship” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “40 days later, Noah opened the window that he had made in the side of the boat, and sent out a raven.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 8:6

The second part of the report opens again with a reference to time: At the end of forty days. The narrator of 7.4 refers to the rain as lasting for a period of forty days. The forty days in verse 6 may refer to forty days after the tops of the mountains were seen. But forty days here probably means forty days after the boat came to rest in the Ararat mountain range; so some translations say “After forty more days….”

Noah opened the window of the ark: window, by the term used here, was not mentioned in the instructions in chapter 6 for the building of the boat, unless the reference is to the opening beneath the roof. See comments on 6.16. The word translated window is found also in Pro 7.6. The reference in our verse is to an opening closed with wood or some other material to keep out the rain. New English Bible translates “trap door,” Revised English Bible and others “hatch.” In some languages a word such as “opening” or a descriptive phrase such as “place to see out” or “place where light entered” may have to be used. Which he had made may refer to the window (so New International Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), but it can refer to the ark.

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 .