cubit

The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek that is translated as “cubit” or into a metric or imperial measurement in English is translated in Kutu, Kwere, and Nyamwezi as makono or “armlength.” Since a cubit is the measurement from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, one armlength (measured from the center of the chest to the fingertips) equals two cubits or roughly 1 meter. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Similarly, in Akoose, the translation is “arm distance.” (Source: Joseph Nkwelle Ngome and Marlie van Rooyen & Jacobus A. Naudé in Communicatio 2009, p. 251ff.)

In Klao it is converted into “hand spans” (app. 6 inches or 12 cm) and “finger spans” (app. 1 inch or 2 cm) (source: Don Slager) and in Bariai into leoa or “fathom,” which comprises the distance from a person’s fingertip to fingertip with arms outstretched, app. 6 feet (source: Bariai Back Translation).

distance (long / wide / high)

The concepts of distance that are translated in English with “long,” “wide,” and “high/tall” are translated in Kwere with one word: utali. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Jeremiah 52:21)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 52:21:

  • Kupsabiny: “The pillars were both hollow pipes and equal size. Each pillar had a height of twenty-seven feet and eighteen feet round and had a thickness at the mouth/opening of three inches.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The height of each pillar is 27 feet and the circumference is about 18 feet. It is hollow inside, and the thickness of the bronze is about four inches.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Each of the pillars was 27 feet/8 meters tall and 18 feet/5.5 meters around. They were hollow, and each had sides/walls that were 3 in./8 cm. thick.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 52:21 - 52:22

Since the two pillars (Good News Translation “columns”) were identical, Good News Translation places verses 21-22 together.

Eighteen cubits; that is, “8 meters” or “27 feet” (Good News Translation).

Twelve cubits; that is, “5.3 meters” or “18 feet” (Good News Translation).

Four fingers; that is, “75 millimeters” or “3 inches” (Good News Translation); Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “8 centimeters.”

A capital: This is a piece at the top of a column that bears the weight of the roof. If readers are not familiar with the use of columns in buildings, then they can use an expression such as “On top of each column was the large section of bronze that supported the weight of the roof.”

Five cubits; that is, “2.2 meters” or “7 feet” (Good News Translation); Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “2 meters.”

Good News Translation translates network as “grillwork.”

Pomegranates are a round fruit about the size of oranges. It would seem that these bronze ones were used for decoration. If the name is unfamiliar, translators can say something like “round balls of bronze” or “round bronze fruits.”

And the second pillar had the like, with pomegranates: With pomegranates is omitted by some and left trailing by others (New American Bible “The pomegranates…”). However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project proposes the meaning represented by Revised English Bible (“The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was exactly like it”) and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible (“the two had the same measurements and the same pomegranates”).

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 .