village

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “village” or “town” in English is translated in Noongar as karlamaya or “fire (used for “home“) + houses” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

In Elhomwe it is typically translated as “place.” “Here in Malawi, villages very small, so changed to ‘places,’ since not sure whether biblical reference just to small villages or also to bigger towns. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Joshua 19:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 19:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “That land included these cities: Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah and Bethlehem. All the cities were twelve together with their villages.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Furthermore — Kattah, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah and Bethlehem city — twelve cities and their villages.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “12 towns/cities (were) under-the-jurisdiction of Zebulun, including the villages around them. Yet in-addition were the towns/cities of Katat, Nahalal, Shimron, Idala, and Betlehem.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Their area included the towns of Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. Altogether there were twelve towns and the surrounding villages.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 19:15 - 19:16

In verse 15 only five of the twelve cities are named; it should be noticed that Bethlehem here is not the more famous one south of Jerusalem; this Bethlehem was a town about 12 kilometers west of Nazareth.Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament, and it is uncertain whether it was located in the territory of Zebulun or of Naphtali.

In verse 15, instead of Shimron of the Masoretic text, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers “Shimeon” (as in 11.1; 12.20); instead of Idalah, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project (with some Hebrew manuscripts, the Syriac Old Testament, and the Latin Vulgate) prefers “Iralah” (also Jerusalem Bible) or, as it spells it, “Jiralah.”

Verse 15 may be translated, “It included twelve cities, along with the towns around them. Some of these twelve cities were Kattath … and Bethlehem.”

Verse 16 may be translated similarly to 19.8b.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 19:15

19:15a

It also included Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem: It is not certain where the towns of Kattath, Nahalal, and Idalah were. The town of Shimron was west of Nazareth. The town of Bethlehem which is mentioned here was northwest of Nazareth. It is not the same town as the town of Bethlehem which was in the land of Judah.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

The clans of Zebulun received the towns of Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah and Bethlehem
-or-
Zebulun’s land included the towns of Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah and Bethlehem

19:15b

There were twelve cities, along with their villages: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

Altogether there were twelve towns with the villages that surrounded them
-or-
These were included in their twelve towns and the villages that were near them

General Comment on verse 19:15

It may be more natural in some languages to reverse the order of the parts of this verse. For example:

Zebulun had twelve towns with their surrounding villages. Some of these were Katta, Nahalal, Shimron, Jiralah, and Bethlehem (Contemporary English Version)

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