The Hebrew that is translated as “offering” in English is translated in Venda as nduvho. J. A. van Rooy (in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 439ff. ) explains: “It is derived from the verb u luvha (‘to pay homage to; to acknowledge the superiority of; at the same time usually asking for a favour’). It is sometimes used as a synonym for ‘asking something from a chief. The noun nduvho means ‘a gift of allegiance,’ which corresponds closely with minchah (מִנְחָה) as ‘offering of allegiance.’ This term nduvho has in it the elements of subjugation, of reciprocity (asking for a favor), of being taken up into the same community as the chief in allegiance to him. Only the element of expiation is missing.”
In Northern Emberá, it is translated as “given to God freely.” (Source: Loewen 1980, p. 108)
“Sheep are known throughout most of the world, even though, as in Central Africa, they are a far cry from the fleecy wool-producing animals of colder climates. Where such animals are known, even by seemingly strange names, e.g. ‘cotton deer’ (Yucateco) or ‘woolly goat’ (Inupiaq), such names should be used. In some instances, one may wish to borrow a name and use a classifier, e.g. ‘an animal called sheep.’ In still other instances translators have used ‘animal which produces wool’, for though people are not acquainted with the animals they are familiar with wool.” (Source: Bratcher / Nida)
In Dëne Súline, it is usually translated as “an evil little caribou.” To avoid the negative connotation, a loan word from the neighboring South Slavey was used. (Source: NCEM, p. 70)
Note that the often-alleged Inuktitut translation of “sheep” with “seal” is an urban myth (source Nida 1947, p. 136).
The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated in English as “frankincense” is translated in Lokạạ as ebạạm yạ insẹnsii or “sap of incense.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Frankincense Boswellia sacra is a yellow or reddish gum produced by one of the fifteen aromatic species of Boswellia. It was probably imported into Israel from Arabia, Africa, or Asia. Egyptian pictorial records indicate that Queen Hatshepsut travelled to a place called “Punt” (possibly Somalia or even India) and brought back specimens that look like Boswellia trees, planting them in her palace garden. Some people call frankincense olibanum (a Middle Eastern word meaning “incense”), but it is possible that olibanum may properly refer only to Boswellia serrata from India, which has a lemon/lime smell as opposed to the orange smell of true frankincense.
Today the best frankincense is reputed to come from Oman, but Yemen and Somalia also produce a lot of it. The name olibanum may come from the Arabic al-lubán (milk) or from the equivalent of “oil of Lebanon.” The Hebrew word levonah can mean either “white” or “Lebanese.”
Boswellia trees are actually shrubs reaching 3 meters (10 feet) in height, with multiple trunks coming from the ground. They have pinnate leaves and small greenish or white flowers. The gum of Boswellia trees comes out by itself in little drops from the branches and twigs, but it can also be extracted by cutting through the bark of the trunk. The resin appears in globs and hardens.
Frankincense was an ingredient of the incense burned in the Tabernacle of ancient Israel, and it was prescribed as part of their cereal offerings.
A classifier will be useful if available (for example, “resin of”). Transliterations of the word for frankincense from Hebrew (labona, lebonahi), Greek (libano), French (bosweli, olibán), or Arabic (akor, mager, mogar) will be more readable than those from English (firankinsensi).
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 GreekSeptuagint and the LatinVulgate 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).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 43:23:
Kupsabiny: “You did not bring me your sheep for sacrifices that are burned completely, and you did not give me your things (as gifts). I did not force you to give me things and I did not compel you to burn incense for me.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “You have not brought to me sheep for burnt offerings, nor have you honored me with sacrifices, I did not burden you by demanding too many offerings. nor have I made you tired by demanding too much incense.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “You (sing.) did- not -offer sheep to me as a burnt offering. You (sing.) did- not -honor me with your (sing.) offerings even I have- not -burdened/[lit. caused-to-labored] and wearied/[lit. caused-to-become-grown-tired] of my asking from you (sing.) gift offerings and incense.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
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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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
In this verse Yahweh accuses his people of not bringing sacrifices to honor him even though he did not make unreasonable demands for such offerings.
You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings seems to say that the people did not bring any sheep as burnt offerings to Yahweh. However, as in the previous verse, there is irony here also. The people offered sheep to other gods also. Bible en français courant expresses this line well with “It is not for me that you sacrificed sheep.” It may also be rendered “I was not the one to whom you offered sheep as whole burnt sacrifices.” For the Hebrew word rendered sheep, see the comments on 7.25; for burnt offerings, see 1.11.
Or honored me with your sacrifices is parallel to the previous line. The people brought sacrifices to Yahweh, but they did not honor him by doing this since they kept sinning. This line is literally “and your sacrifices you did not honor me.” Since the word “sacrifices” occurs before the verb “honor” in Hebrew, it is emphatic. There is the following chiasmus in the first two lines of this verse: not brought me > sheep for burnt offerings > < your sacrifices < not honored me. For the Hebrew word rendered sacrifices, see the comments on 1.11.
I have not burdened you with offerings: Yahweh required offerings from his people, but he did not ask them to bring more than they could provide. His demands were not unreasonable. The Hebrew verb rendered burdened comes from a root meaning “to serve.” Here it has the sense that God did not force his people to serve him with too many offerings. Bible en français courant makes this very explicit by rendering this line as “It is not true either that I made of you a slave by demanding offerings.” The Hebrew word for offerings normally refers to grain offerings, but its sense here seems to be more general, referring to any kind of offering (see the comments on 1.13).
Or wearied you with frankincense is parallel to the previous line. Neither did Yahweh tire out his people by asking for too much incense. The verb wearied is synonymous with burdened. Frankincense is fragrant plant resin that people burn for its pleasing smell. The more general word “incense” may be used here (see the comments on 1.13). Revised English Bible translates the last two lines clearly with “I did not exact grain-offerings from you or weary you with demands for frankincense.” Good News Translation is also helpful with “I did not burden you by demanding offerings or wear you out by asking for incense.”
Translation examples for this verse are:
• It was not for me that you made burnt offerings of sheep,
nor did you honor me when you made sacrifices.
I have never burdened you with demands for grain offerings,
nor wearied you with requests for frankincense.
• It wasn’t to me that you burned sheep offerings,
nor with your sacrifices did you honor me.
I have never asked you for too many offerings,
nor required of you too much [frank]incense.
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 .
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