cattail (reed-mace𖺗 bulrush)

The Hebrew word suf probably designates more than one species of the cattail, also called “reed-mace” and “bulrush.” There are two in Israel: Typha domingensis and Typha latifolia. Both species like to stand in the slow-moving water on the edge of rivers and streams. The reference to suf (“weeds”) in Jonah 2:5 supports Zohary’s conjecture (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982) that suf may be a collective name for many water plants. Suf is paired with qaneh (“reeds”) in Isaiah 19:6, so it is almost certainly the cattail since both are found in marshes and slow streams.

The cattail reaches 3 meters (10 feet) in height and is notable for its soft, fuzzy brown seed head that eventually disintegrates into fluffy material that blows away in the wind and floats on the water. The plant also spreads through its thick roots, which creep along the bottom of shallow lakes and streams. Its leaves are long, erect, and sharply pointed.

In Bible times, as now, the leaves of cattails were used for baskets and mats. The thick roots are edible, as are the pollen and the young green stalks. The cattails of Exodus are famous as the plants among which the mother of Moses hid her son in his little floating basket.

Most kinds of cattail are found in Europe and North America, where the leaves are used for mats and chair seats. Some typha species in India (Typha elephantina) are used for making paper and ornaments. Translators who live near rivers may have other reed-like plants that can be used, keeping in mind that there are four reed-like plants mentioned in the Bible (see “Papyrus,” “Reed,” and “Rush”). In Exodus 2:3 and 2:5 a number of English versions, including the NRSVue use the generic word “reeds.” In communities that are unfamiliar with waterside vegetation, generic expressions such as “tall grass” or “tall stalks of grass” may be effective. The basic options for rendering suf in Exodus and Isaiah are:
1. a local grass that grows in streams and rivers;
2. a generic word such as “grass”;
3. a descriptive phrase such as “tall grass.”

The word suf has a different sense in Jonah 2:5. In this passage the plants are living in the water without roots or are perhaps rooted in the bottom of a shallow sea. So translations typically use “seaweed,” a plant with long, grass-like leaves that is often not attached to the soil under the sea.

The Hebrew expression yam suf (literally “sea of reeds”) has been translated somewhat inaccurately by the Septuagint translators and many others as “Red Sea.” A Handbook on Exodus recommends following the Hebrew, which is literally “Sea of Reeds,” or the modern equivalent “Gulf of Suez” as in the Good News Bible, unless there is a strong tradition in the receptor culture for “Red Sea.” If “Red Sea” is used, then a footnote should be added, giving “Sea of Reeds” as the literal meaning of the Hebrew text.

Cattail, Wikimedia Commons

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

reed

There are two general types of reed in Israel, the Common Reed Phragmites australis and the Giant Reed Arundo donax, and it is impossible to say which one is intended in a given biblical context.

The English word “cane” comes from the Hebrew word qaneh. Qaneh is the most general Hebrew word of the many referring to reeds and rushes. Like the English word “reed,” it may refer to a specific type of reed or be a general name for several kinds of water plant. This word is also used to refer to the stalk of grain in Pharaoh’s dream (Genesis 41:5, Genesis 41:22), to the shaft and branches of the golden lampstand in the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:31 et al.), to the beam of a scale (Isaiah 46:6), to the upper arm of a person (Job 31:22), to a measuring stick (Ezekiel 40:3 et al.), and to aromatic cane (Song of Songs 4:14 et al.).

The Greek word kalamos is also used to refer to a measuring stick (Revelation 11:1 et al.) and to a pen (3 John 1:13 and 3 Maccabees 4:20).

The common reed is a tall grass with stiff, sharply-pointed leaves and a plume-like flower head that reaches to more than 2 meters (7 feet). It grows in lakes and streams, the roots creeping across the bottom of the lake to produce new leaves and stalks.

The giant reed is similar to the common reed but tends to grow not in the water but on the river banks. Its majestic plumes can reach up to 5 meters (17 feet) in height on hollow stalks that look like bamboo.

Reeds of both kinds were used for baskets, mats, flutes, pens, arrows, and roof-coverings. Isaiah 42:3 says that the Messiah will be gentle with weak people (“a bruised reed he will not break”), in contrast to the typical iron-fisted tyrants of the day. The Pharaoh is likened to an undependable reed staff in 2 Kings 18:21 et al. In 1 Kings 14:15 Israel is compared to a reed shaking in the water.

The common reed of the Mediterranean area has relatives in Europe, India, Japan, and North America. It is thought to be the only species of the genus Phragmites (although some botanists divide it into three species). It is very important for conservationists, because it provides habitat for many kinds of animals and birds. In North America the weaker native type is being overtaken by more robust types from Europe, which are now threatening other kinds of marsh plants. In Japan people eat the young shoots of reeds. Native Americans used to eat the seeds.

Translators living near lakes and rivers will be able to find an equivalent, if not a relative, of the reed. Others can be generic and use “grass” or a phrase such as “tall grass growing in the water.”

Common reed, photo by Rob Koops

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

In Newari it is translated as “bamboo.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 19:6

And its canals will become foul: This line has a slight textual problem, not mentioned by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. Masoretic Text is literally “I will reject/cast off the rivers.” Dead Sea Scrolls omits the first person pronominal prefix from the Hebrew verb. This results in a Hebrew verb form that occurs nowhere else but scholars believe it means “stink.” Most modern translations support this reading (so RSV/NRSV, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Its canals refers to the branches of the Nile River that are like canals as they spread out from the main river. For canals we can say “channels” (Good News Translation), “streams” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “arms.”

And the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up: The branches of Egypt’s Nile is literally “the Niles of Egypt.” The Hebrew term for Nile is plural here. This plural form probably refers to the Nile River and its branches. The Hebrew word for “Egypt” is usually a dual form, but here it is singular. BDB suggests that the singular form is poetic. Since both of the first two lines of this verse refer to the branches of the Nile River, translators may combine them, as Good News Translation has done. Will diminish means the water level will drop. Then it will dry up. The order of events in the first two lines is probably as follows: first the water level of the Nile and its branches drops, then they dry up, finally they smell. Good News Translation reflects this and so does New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh with “Channels turn foul as they ebb, And Egypt’s canals run dry.”

Reeds and rushes will rot away: This is a another sign of the drying river. Reeds and rushes (or bulrushes) are plants that flourish along rivers. See 9.14, where a different Hebrew word for “reed” is used. Because of the drop in water level, the reeds and rushes that grow along the Nile will rot away, that is, die. This is a significant loss because of the role these plants played in the life of the river as well as the nation. Losing them would directly affect the Egyptians. They were used to make boats (see the comments on “papyrus” at 18.2), writing paper, clothes, rugs, sails, and ropes. They were also used as fuel, food, and medicine. Translators may combine reeds and rushes into one plant that is well known to grow along rivers. But they may also need to add a footnote to indicate the significance of these plants for Egypt.

For the translation of this verse we suggest the following examples:

• The Nile River and its streams will smell
as the water drops and dries up;
the reeds and bulrushes will die off.

• Egypt’s Nile River and its branches will stink
as they slowly go down and dry up;
the reeds and river grasses will die.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .