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 19:30)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 19:30:

  • Kupsabiny: “Ummah, Aphek and Rehob. All these cities were twenty-two together with their villages.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The villages of Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob were also included in this territory: Twenty-two cities and their villages.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Umma, Afek, and Rehob — 22 towns/cities, including the villages around them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob. Altogether there were 22 towns and their surrounding villages.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 19:25 - 19:31

Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation follow the Masoretic text spelling of the places cited. In verse 28, instead of Masoretic text Ebron, Soggin, citing 1 Chronicles 6.74, prefers “Abdon”; so New English Bible, New American Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project.

Sidon (Revised Standard Version “Sidon the Great”) in verse 28 and Tyre in verse 29 are the two important Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean.

In verse 29 the Masoretic text has “Mehebel” (which could be taken to mean “from Hebel”); the Septuagint favors Mahalab (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation and others); Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers to spell it “Mahlab”. It seems best to follow Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation spelling.

In verse 30, for Ummah of the Masoretic text, the Septuagint has “Acco” (see Judges 1.31), which is modern Acre; Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefer to follow the Septuagint. A translator should feel free to follow the Septuagint here.

Since some of the cities in verses 25-30 are mentioned in geographical relationship to other cities, the passage may be translated similarly to the first proposal for verses 18-23.

It is possible to translate verses 30-31 as a unit, and a proposal for doing so is given below. But first, it should be noted that Good News Translation once again fails to identify the place-names as cities, and this causes confusion, since Zebulun (verse 27) represents a tribe, not a city. To help with this difficulty, verses 25 and 27 may be translated:

• 25 The southern border of its territory led westward from the city of Helkath to…. 27 The eastern border went north from the city of Helkath to the city of Bethdagon. It touched the territory of the tribe of Zebulun …

The last part of verse 29 and all of verses 30-31 may be translated, “It included Mahalab, Achzib, 30-31 Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob, a total of twenty-two cities, along with the towns around them. This entire region was given to the tribe of Asher.”

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 19:30

19:30

Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob. There were twenty-two cities, along with their villages: The towns of Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob were in the plain of Acco.

There were twenty-two cities, along with their villages: The list of towns given for the clan of Asher totals twenty-four towns. Some Bible scholars suggest that Mahalab and Achzib is a parenthesis and should not be counted in the total. Others scholars suggest that Tyre and Sidon should not be included in the list.

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

They also received Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob. Their total number of towns was twenty-two, including the villages that were near them
-or-
to Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob. The total number of towns and nearby villages was twenty-two

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