snuffer

The Hebrew that is translated as “snuffer” or similar in English is translated in Newari as “implement for extinguishing the lamp of the lampstand” (source: Newari Back Translation).

bronze

The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “bronze” in English is translated in Newari as “bell-metal,” since bells are made of bronze in Nepal (source: Newari Back Translation).

See also bronze vessel.

complete verse (Jeremiah 52:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 52:18:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those people also went with the ash pots, big spoons, scissors for wicks, basins, spoons for getting charcoal and all the other utensils of bronze which had been used in the House of God.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They also took the pans/frying-pan, shovels, something-to-cut the (lamp-)wick, bowls, small-cups, and other bronze articles/utensils at the temple.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They also took away the basins for holding the ashes from the burned sacrifices, the shovels for cleaning out the ashes, the tools for snuffing out the wicks of the lamps, the basins for holding the blood of the sacrificed animals, the dishes for incense, and all the other bronze items that were used when sacrifices were made at the temple.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 52:18

The pots were used for carrying ashes from the altar of burnt offerings (Exo 27.3). New Jerusalem Bible has “ash containers” and Good News Translation “ash containers used in cleaning the altar.”

The shovels is the rendering of most translations here; these tools were used for cleaning the altar (see Exo 27.3).

The snuffers were “the tools used in tending the lamps” (Good News Translation); see 1Kgs 7.50. New Jerusalem Bible accepts a word of a slightly different spelling which means “pruning knife,” and has here “knives”; these were in two parts, probably similar to scissors or tongs. However, this is not thought to be the best form of the text.

The basins were the bowls in which the blood of the sacrifices was caught (see Exo 27.3); New Jerusalem Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh both have “sprinkling bowls”; Good News Translation translates “the bowls used for catching the blood from the sacrifices.”

The dishes for incense (see Exo 25.29) is translated “the bowls used for burning incense” by Good News Translation; New Jerusalem Bible has “incense bowls.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .