calamity for many / destructive fire

In Gbaya, the notion of a calamity affecting a large groups of people at the same time and/or a destructive fire is emphasized in the referenced verses with the ideophone gbɔyɛɛ.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

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 New Revised Standard Version, updated edition 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 Judith 2:27

Then he went down into the plain of Damascus during the wheat harvest: Next Holofernes arrives at the plain near the city of Damascus. This occurred during the wheat harvest, which would have been late spring or early summer. Unless a whole year has been spent laying waste all the country in verses 21-26, Holofernes’ exploits have taken little more than a couple of months. He started out in early spring; compare the note on 2.1. During the wheat harvest means “while they [the inhabitants] were harvesting wheat.” Wheat was a grain crop from which they made bread. In cultures where wheat is unknown and “rice” is the staple crop, one may say “a rice-like plant named ‘wheat.’ ” In some areas a general word like “fruit” may be used for crops that have grains and must be threshed, so one may translate “a fruit named ‘wheat.’ ”

Burned all their fields refers to burning all the standing wheat. So one may say “burned all their crops.”

Slaughtered the flocks and herds: The flocks and herds could have consisted of sheep, goats, cattle, or any combination.

Sacked their cities may be rendered “looted the towns” (Good News Translation) or “forcibly took all their possessions from the towns.”

Ravaged their lands may be rendered “devastated the entire countryside” (Good News Translation) or “destroyed everything outside their towns and cities.”

Put to death all their young men with the edge of the sword: The edge of the sword is literally “the mouth of the sword.” It is a familiar Hebrew idiom used in the Greek text. Good News Translation doesn’t mention the sword, but simply says “killed all the young men.” This is a good model for a number of languages (compare the note on 1.12, where it represents all weapons).

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Judith. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.