The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “wheat”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).
Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “millet” (Lambya) (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), “food” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext) or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “threshing floor” in English is translated in Kim with twal or “termite mound” which are used to build threshing floors. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
In Cherokee it is translated as “seeds — the place for knocking them off.” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16)
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Greek that are translated as “wine” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “grape juice pressed long ago (= fermented)” or “strong water” (source: Daud Soesilo). In Guhu-Samane it is also translated as “strong water” (source: Ernest L. Richert in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. ), in Noongar as “liquor” (verbatim: “strong water”) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), in Hausa as ruwan inabi or “water of grapes” (with no indication whether it’s alcoholic or not — source: Mark A. Gaddis), in sar as kasə nduú or “grape drink” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin), or in Papantla Totonac and Coyutla Totonac as “a drink like Pulque” (for “Pulque,” see here ) (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. ).
In Swahili, Bible translations try to avoid local words for alcoholic drinks, because “drinking of any alcohol at all was one of the sins most denounced by early missionaries. Hence translators are uncomfortable by the occurrences of wine in the Bible. Some of the established churches which use wine prefer to see church wine as holy, and would not refer to it by the local names used for alcoholic drinks. Instead church wine is often referred to by terms borrowed from other languages, divai (from German, der Wein) or vini/mvinyo (from ltalian/Latin vino/vinum). Several translations done by Protestants have adapted the Swahili divai for ‘wine,’ while those done by Catholics use vini or mvinyo.” (Source: Rachel Konyoro in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 221ff. )
The Swahili divai was in turn borrowed by Sabaot and was turned into tifaayiik and is used as such in the Bible. Kupsabiny, on the other hand, borrowed mvinyo from Swahili and turned it into Finyonik. (Source: Iver Larsen)
In Nyamwezi, two terms are used. Malwa ga muzabibu is a kind of alcohol that people specifically use to get drunk (such as in Genesis 9:21) and ki’neneko is used for a wine made from grapes (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext).
In some Hindi translations (such as the Common Language version, publ. 2015 ), one term (dākharasa दाखरस — grape juice) is used when that particular drink is in the focus (such as in John 2) and another term (madirā मदिरा — “alcohol” or “liquor”) when drunkenness is in the focus (such as in Eph. 5:18).
In Mandarin Chinese, the generic term jiǔ (酒) or “alcohol(ic drink)” is typically used. Exceptions are Leviticus 10:9, Numbers 6:3, Deuteronomy 29:6, Judges 13:4 et al., 1 Samuel 1:15, and Luke 1:15 where a differentiation between weak and strong alcohol is needed. The Mandarin Chinese Union Version (2010) translates that as qīngjiǔ lièjiǔ (清酒烈酒) and dànjiǔ lièjiǔ (淡酒烈酒), both in the form of a Chinese proverb and meaning “light alcohol and strong drink.” (Source: Zetzsche)
Click or tap here to see a short video clip about wine in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)
The different Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joel 2:24:
Kupsabiny: “Food will fill your granaries and wine and oil will fill the pots.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The threshing floors will be filled with grain jars will overflow with new wine and oil.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The places-of-threshing will-be-filled with grains and the new wine and oil will-overflow from their containers.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The place-of-threshing will in-the-future be full of wheat and barley and what- you -use-for-carrying/containing will overflow also with alcoholic-beverage and (vegetable)-oil.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “The ground where you thresh the grain will be covered with grain, and your vats where you store grape juice and olive oil will be full.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
This verse shows the result of the rain that Yahweh has sent. Therefore it belongs in the same stanza with verse 23, not with verse 25.
The threshing floors shall be full of grain: Threshing is the process of separating the grains of wheat or barley from the thin shells that cover the grain. The whole grain was crushed on the ground to break the covering, and then tossed into the air so the wind would blow away the useless portion. The heavier portion was the food. The threshing floors were flat areas where this could be done, usually located in a high place where the wind would blow freely. In English one seldom speaks of these places as floors, so Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have “threshing places.” Full of grain indicates that the harvest will be abundant, so that much grain will be brought to these places.
The vats shall overflow with wine and oil: The vats were holes or “pits” (Good News Translation) dug into rocks so that wine and oil could be collected there. The sides were plastered so the rock walls would retain the liquids. As Good News Translation indicates, these vats were near the wine presses, where people would squeeze out the juice from the grapes and olives, and the liquid would flow directly into the vats.
Quoted with permission from de Blois, Kees & Dorn, Louis. A Handbook on Joel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
The threshing floors will be full of grain, -or-
Grain will cover the ground/places where you (plur.) thresh/separate grain.
2:24b and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
and the ⌊big⌋ wine pots/vats and oil pots/vats will be full to overflowing. -or-
There will be more new wine and oil than the storage containers can hold.
Ce verset décrit l’effet de la pluie envoyée par Yahweh : une abondance de nourriture, de vin et d’autres produits. Le vocabulaire froment, moût, et huile fraîche est déjà connu (Joël 1.10, Joël 1.11). En fait, le lecteur ou l’auditeur assiste au renversement de la situation. Ces choses manquaient, mais maintenant elles vont revenir en abondance.
Les aires se remplissent de froment : les aires désignent des endroits plats où le travail de vannage peut s’effectuer. En Israël, ces aires se situaient souvent en hauteur où le vent soufflait librement. Les grains de blé ou d’orge étaient ensuite pressés par terre pour en briser la coque, puis on les lançait en l’air et le vent emportait les portions inutiles. Les graines plus lourdes étaient réservées pour s’alimenter. La Bible en français courant et la Parole de Vie adaptent aux contextes connus de notre temps en parlant de « granges » ou de « greniers ». Si la langue cible a un mot traditionnel pour aires, il peut être utilisé ici. Sinon, comme il s’agit du langage figuré et que le sens est visé, on pourra suivre l’exemple de ces versions modernes. Toutefois il vaut mieux utiliser des mots génériques comme « greniers », et non des termes désignant des endroits modernes (« granges »).
se remplissent indique que la récolte sera abondante. On apportera donc beaucoup de grains à ces endroits. On pourra dire « Les aires seront remplis de… ».
Pour froment, voir Joël 1.11. On pourra utiliser un mot générique comme « grain » (Parole de Vie) ou un mot plus connu comme « blé » (Bible en français courant, Nouvelle Bible Segond). Voir Joël 1.17.
Les cuves débordent de moût et d’huile fraîche : les cuves sont des trous ou des puits creusés dans les rochers. Le liquide des raisins ou des olives fraîchement pressés coulait dans ces cuves. Ces endroits étaient recouverts de plâtre sur leurs côtés pour que les parois des rochers ne retiennent pas ces liquides. Dire que les cuves débordent est une façon de dire que la récolte est très abondante.
Pour moût et huile fraîche, voir le commentaire de Joël 1.10.
Source: Aroga Bessong, Dieudonné P.; Somé, Joachim & Zogbo, Lynell. Joël – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2010.
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