In Aekyom, years are counted as “turtles” (ambum).
Norm Mundhenk tells this story:
“Recently I was checking some New Testament material in the Aekyom language of western Papua New Guinea. It seemed relatively clear until suddenly we came to a passage that started, ‘When Jesus had 12 turtles, …’ Surely I had misunderstood what they said.
“‘Did you say that Jesus had 12 turtles?’
“‘Let us explain! Around here there is a certain time every year when river turtles come up on the banks and lay their eggs. Because this is so regular, it can be used as a way of counting years. Someone’s age is said to be how many turtles that person has. So when we say that Jesus had 12 turtles, we mean that Jesus was 12 years old.’
“It was of course the familiar story of Jesus’ trip with his parents to Jerusalem. And certainly, as we all know, Jesus did indeed have 12 turtles at that time!”
In Tok Pisin, krismas (derived from “christmas”) is taken as the fixed annual marker, so Jesus had 12 “christmases” (Jisas i gat 12-pela krismas pinis) or Abram (in Gen. 12:4) had 75 (Abram i gat 75 krismas) (source: Norm Mundhenk). In Noongar it is biroka kadak or “summers had” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Job” in English means “the persecuted,” “hated,” “one ever returning to God,” “he that weeps,” “a desert.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign for “patience,” referring to James 5:11 and many other passages within the book of Job. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 42:16:
Kupsabiny: “Job lived in the land one hundred and forty years, until he saw grandchildren and great grandchildren/descendants.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “After that Job lived another 140 years, and he [lived] to see [lit.: until he had seen] his grandchild, great-grandchild, and great-great-grandson.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Since then, Job still lived 140 years, and he even saw his descendants up to the fourth generation.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
As the text stands, And after this refers to Job arranging for his daughters to inherit along with the brothers. However, after this may also refer to the end of Job’s troubles, and that Job lived 140 years after his restoration. The Septuagint has “Job lived after the affliction 170 years, and all the years he lived were 240 years.” This makes Job 70 years old at the time of his misfortune, the end of one normal life span according to Psalm 90.10. A hundred and forty years may represent another example of doubling, so that Job lived 70 years before and 2 x 70 years after. The concluding paragraph gives Job’s life an ending similar to that of the patriarchs in Genesis.
It is not known how the author counts generations when he says four generations. Job lived to see his sons and his son’s sons, which would be his grandsons. If Job saw four generations of his descendants, as the Hebrew says, he probably would have seen his great grandsons. By contrast Joseph, who lived 110 years, saw his grandchildren to the third generation (Gen 50.23). According to Psalm 128.6, to see your children’s children is a supreme blessing and the crown of old age (Prov 17.6). Good News Translation is no doubt correct with “to see his grandchildren and his great-grandchildren.” In some languages verse 16 may be translated as “After these matters were tied up, Job lived a hundred and forty years more. So he lived long enough to see his sons and the children of his sons and all others that were born, up to the fourth generation from Job.” Or “After all this had taken place, Job lived another hundred and forty years. Thus he lived long enough to see four generations of descendants.”
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 .
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