burnt-offering

The Hebrew olah (עֹלָה) originally means “that which goes up (in smoke).” English Bibles often translates it as “burnt-offering” or “whole burnt-offering,” focusing on the aspect of the complete burning of the offering.

The Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate Bibles translate it as holokautōma / holocautōsis (ὁλοκαύτωμα / ὁλοκαύτωσις) and holocaustum, respectively, meaning “wholly burnt.” While a form of this term is widely used in many Romance languages (Spanish: holocaustos, French: holocaustes, Italian: olocausti, Portuguese: holocaustos) and originally also in the Catholic tradition of English Bible translations, it is largely not used in English anymore today (the preface of the revised edition of the Catholic New American Bible of 2011: “There have been changes in vocabulary; for example, the term ‘holocaust’ is now normally reserved for the sacrilegious attempt to destroy the Jewish people by the Third Reich.”)

Since translation into Georgian was traditionally done on the basis of the Greek Septuagint, a transliteration of holokautōma was used as well, which was changed to a translation with the meaning of “burnt offering” when the Old Testament was retranslated in the 1980’s on the basis of the Hebrew text.

In the Koongo (Ki-manianga) translation by the Alliance Biblique de la R.D. Congo (publ. in 2015) olah is translated as “kill and offer sacrifice” (source: Anicet Bassilua) and in Elhomwe as “fire offering.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

The English translation of Everett Fox uses offering-up (similarly, the German translation by Buber-Rosenzweig has Darhöhung and the French translation by Chouraqui montée).

See also offering (qorban).

complete verse (Isaiah 40:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 40:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “One may not cut down in the hills of Lebanon
    enough firewood
    to be used to burn sacrifices to God.
    All the animals in the forest are not enough
    to be used to make sacrifices for/to God.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “To offer a burnt offering on the altar of our God
    there would not be animals enough in the forest of Lebanon
    nor would there be enough trees to burn.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The animals in Lebanon are not enough/sufficient to offer for him, and its trees are not enough/sufficient to-use-as-fire-woods for the offerings.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “All those who make idols will be humiliated.
    They will all be disgraced together.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 40:16

Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering: The prophet uses Lebanon as an example of the nations referred to in the preceding verse. This country was Judah’s wealthy neighbor to the north. It was famous for its cedar trees as a source of fine timber for building (see 2.13; 14.8; 37.24), and wild animals were plentiful in its mountains. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel means that all its trees would not be sufficient as firewood for burning an offering to God. Nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering completes the idea of the previous line. Neither would all its animals be enough to make a burnt offering to God. God is so great that he deserves an offering that humans could never provide even if they used all their resources of sacrificial animals and firewood. Its beasts (literally “its living things”) could refer to all the animals of Lebanon or just its wild animals. For burnt offering, see the comments on 1.11. The singular expression burnt offering probably has a collective sense here, so it may be made plural.

The two brief lines of this verse in Hebrew are packed with meaning, which a literal rendering may not convey clearly. For this reason Good News Translation has tried to give the full sense by using a longer construction. It also reverses the order of the lines for clarity. Bible en français courant is similar with “All the game [or, wild animals] of Lebanon would be insufficient to offer him a sacrifice worthy of him, nor would the trees of its forests be sufficient to maintain the fire.” Such a rendering may be needed if translators wish to make the sense of the verse sufficiently clear (see the third example below).

Translation examples for this verse are:

• There are not enough trees in [the country of] Lebanon to provide fuel,
nor enough animals [in its forests] to provide for burnt offerings [to God].

• Lebanon does not have enough trees to provide firewood,
nor enough beasts for burnt offerings.

• Even Lebanon does not have a sufficient number of animals or trees
to provide the kind of burnt offering God deserves.

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 .