cornerstone

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Bawm build with bamboo and thatch in their mountainous forests. They made the apostles and prophets become the roof ridge pole and Jesus the central uprights which support it. I asked why not the corner uprights since Greek has a term that is translated in English as ‘cornerstone.’ Bawm translators responded that the central uprights are more important than the corner ones, and Greek refers to the most important stone. (“Corner uprights” used in 1 Timothy 3:15.) (Source: David Clark)

Similarly, Chris Pluger tells the following from the translation into Tsamakko: “At the end of Ephesians 2, Paul uses the idea of a building to show that people of all nations and backgrounds are united together by faith in Christ. This building is pictured as standing on a stone foundation, and believers are ‘joined together’ as parts of that building. Christ himself is the cornerstone on which everything is based. However, the Tsamakko people of southwest Ethiopia do not build on stone foundations, and their buildings are traditionally round. This makes the idea of a ‘cornerstone’ difficult for several obvious reasons. In the Tsamakko translation of Ephesians 2:20, Christ is the mososso — the big center pole of a house that holds up the roof and the entire structure of the building. The apostles and prophets are the other poles that support the frame of the house. And believers are the house itself — all the pieces that make up the walls and the roof. We are all joined together as one, and Christ is the thing that keeps us together!” (for a complete back-translation of that verse in Tsamakko, see complete verse (Ephesians 2:20).

In Mono, translators used “main post,” in Martu Wangka “two forked sticks with another long strong stick laid across” (see also 1 Peter 2:6-7.), and in Arrernte, the translation in 1 Peter 2:7 (in English translation: “the stone . . . became the very cornerstone”) was rendered as “the foundation… continues to be the right foundation,” (source for this and two above: Carl Gross) and in Uripiv and Sabaot it is the “post” (source: Ross McKerras and Jim Leonhard in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 50). Likewise, in Hakha Chin it is the “central upright poles of a house.” (Hakha Chin speakers are mountain people who build houses with bamboo and palm thatch, not stone) (source: David Clark)

In Ixcatlán Mazatec it is translated with a term denoting the “the principal part of the ‘house’ (or work)” (source: Robert Bascom), in Enlhet as “like the house-root” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. ), in Q’anjob’al it is translated with with the existing idiom “ear of the house.” (Source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. ), in Desano as “main support of the house,” and in Tataltepec Chatino as “the best stone” (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.).

Shuar translates as “that stone was placed to the main house pole.” The Shuar use stones in house building either at the bottom of the posthole as a base for the house pole to rest on, or as chocking material around the post to hold it firm. Either function is acceptable here particularly as applied to the main house-pole. In Ocotlán Zapotec it is “master stone of the house.” This is a special stone they put into the foundation as sort of a guide stone of how the foundation is to true up. (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

In Matumbi it is “the great foundation stone.” It’s the first large stone you place for a house, the one that determines where all the other stones will go, but unlike in Greek thought it’s often in the center of a building instead of a corner. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

See also rock / stone, foundation on rock, and foundation.

complete verse (Job 38:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 38:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “Where did the pillars that support the world stick to
    and who was it that laid the foundation where it is,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “What supports the earth?
    Who laid its foundation stone?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “What supports the foundation of the earth? And who laid this foundation” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 38:6 - 38:7

These two verses are closely related in subject and structure and will be considered together. On what were its bases sunk translates the Hebrew literally. The earth was thought of as a building set on foundations, as in verse 4a, and also in Psalm 24.2; 89.11; 102.25; 104.5; Proverbs 3.19; Isaiah 48.13; 51.13, 16; Zechariah 12.1. In 9.6 Job reflects the traditional wisdom that the earth rests on pillars. These pillars in turn rest on bases. The reference in this line is not to the pillars, as in Good News Translation, but to the bases or “footings” upon which the pillars rest. New English Bible translates it clearly as “On what do its supporting pillars rest?” This view of the earth is different from that expressed by Bildad in 26.7, who said that God “hung the earth in empty space,” which sounds more like the view of the earth as confirmed by modern science. In Psalm 24.2 the earth rests upon the seas. This line may require more information to make it clear. For example, “On what do the bases rest that hold up the pillars of the earth?” or “What is beneath the footings that support the pillars holding up the earth?” It is likely that a detailed note will be required at 9.6, and a cross reference to that note may be placed here.

Or who laid its cornerstone: cornerstone translates a word which may refer either to the stone placed at the main corner in the foundation, or at the top as the final stone laid. The latter is referred to in English as the “capstone.” Most modern translations have cornerstone, which refers to the final stage of laying the foundation, not to the completion of the construction. In languages in which cornerstones are unknown, it may be possible to say, for example, “or who finished the work of setting it in place?” or “who completed the place where it would rest?”

When the morning stars sang together makes the whole of verse 7 subordinate to something which may not be clear. The thought could go back to verse 4a, “Where were you,” but this separates it very far. More likely it is to be understood in relation to verse 6, so that the singing of the morning stars takes place at the time of, or upon completion of, the laying of the cornerstone. From Ezra 3.10-11 it is known, for example, that the laying of the foundation of the Second Temple was accompanied by celebrations and music. The same is referred to in Zechariah 4.7 on the occasion of the laying of the capstone. So here the laying of the foundation of the earth is accompanied by singing. Good News Translation translates “In the dawn of that day,” but the reference of “that day” in Good News Translation‘s own context is somewhat ambiguous. New Jerusalem Bible relates verse 7a to verse 6b by translating “to the joyful concert of the morning stars.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has “while the morning stars sang in chorus,” and New International Version ends verse 6b with a dash: “… cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together.” Translators should not rely on punctuation alone to show that verse 7a occurs simultaneously with or follows verse 6. For example, “Who laid the cornerstone as the morning stars began to sing?” Before the creation of man it is the stars which witness the creation of the earth, and are said to sing together, that is, in chorus. In 3.9 Job mentions the “stars of dawn.” See the discussion there. The reference here is the same. Sang together implies singing as a chorus, uniting their voices.

Sons of God, which matches morning stars, refers to the angels, or more generally “heavenly beings” as in Good News Translation. The expression sons of God occurs in 1.6 and refers to God’s heavenly court. See comments on 1.6 and the Good News Translation note there. In some languages “the singing of stars” may be meaningless. However, it may be possible to express this phrase as a simile and say, for example, “Who laid the cornerstone while the morning stars sang like people singing together?”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .