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 19:38)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 19:38:

  • Kupsabiny: “Yiron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath and Beth-shemesh. Those cities were nineteen together with their villages.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth-Anath and Beth-Shemesh. There were 19 cities with their villages.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Bet Anat, and Bet Shemesh -19 towns/cities, including the villages around them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Iron, Migdal-El, Horem, Beth-Anath, and Beth-Shemesh. Altogether there were 19 cities and the surrounding villages.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 19:35 - 19:39

For the translation of verses 35-39, the two alternatives suggested for verses 18-23 will serve as a pattern.

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 19:38

19:38a

Iron: This town was in upper Galilee. It was on the modern border between Lebanon and Israel.

Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath: The location of these three towns is not known.

and Beth-shemesh: This town is not the same as the town mentioned on Judah’s northern border in 15:10. This town and the others listed above were most likely in Upper Galilee.

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

They also had Iron town, Migdal-el town, Horem town, Beth-anath town, and Beth-shemesh town
-or-
and Iron and Migdal-el and Horem and Beth-anath and Beth-shemesh

19:38b

There were nineteen cities, along with their villages: The total number of towns listed in verses 35–38 is sixteen towns. The names of the three other towns that are counted here are not known.

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

In all there was a total of nineteen towns with the villages that surrounded them
-or-
There were nineteen towns with their nearby villages

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