Josh 22:29 – TIPs

burnt-offering

The Hebrew olah (עֹלָה) originally means “that which goes up (in smoke).” English Bibles often translates it as “burnt-offering” or “whole burnt-offering,” focusing on the aspect of the complete burning of the offering.

The Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate Bibles translate it as holokautōma / holocautōsis (ὁλοκαύτωμα / ὁλοκαύτωσις) and holocaustum, respectively, meaning “wholly burnt.” While a form of this term is widely used in many Romance languages (Spanish: holocaustos, French: holocaustes, Italian: olocausti, Portuguese: holocaustos) and originally also in the Catholic tradition of English Bible translations, it is largely not used in English anymore today (the preface of the revised edition of the Catholic New American Bible of 2011: “There have been changes in vocabulary; for example, the term ‘holocaust’ is now normally reserved for the sacrilegious attempt to destroy the Jewish people by the Third Reich.”)

Since translation into Georgian was traditionally done on the basis of the Greek Septuagint, a transliteration of holokautōma was used as well, which was changed to a translation with the meaning of “burnt offering” when the Old Testament was retranslated in the 1980’s on the basis of the Hebrew text.

In the Koongo (Ki-manianga) translation by the Alliance Biblique de la R.D. Congo (publ. in 2015) olah is translated as “kill and offer sacrifice” (source: Anicet Bassilua) and in Elhomwe as “fire offering.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

The English translation of Everett Fox uses offering-up (similarly, the German translation by Buber-Rosenzweig has Darhöhung and the French translation by Chouraqui montée).

offering

The Hebrew that is translated as “offering” in English is translated in Venda as nduvho. J. A. van Rooy (in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 439ff. ) explains: “It is derived from the verb u luvha (‘to pay homage to; to acknowledge the superiority of; at the same time usually asking for a favour’). It is sometimes used as a synonym for ‘asking something from a chief. The noun nduvho means ‘a gift of allegiance,’ which corresponds closely with minchah (מִנְחָה) as ‘offering of allegiance.’ This term nduvho has in it the elements of subjugation, of reciprocity (asking for a favor), of being taken up into the same community as the chief in allegiance to him. Only the element of expiation is missing.”

In Northern Emberá, it is translated as “given to God freely.” (Source: Loewen 1980, p. 108)

God forbid

The now commonly-used English idiom “God forbid” was first coined in 1560 in the Geneva Bible. (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 273)

For other idioms in English that were coined by Bible translation, see here.

altar

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The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated as “altar” in English is translated in a number of ways:

Obolo: ntook or “raised structure for keeping utensils (esp. sacrifice)” (source: Enene Enene)
Muna: medha kaefoampe’a or “offering table” (source: René van den Berg)
Luchazi: muytula or “the place where one sets the burden down”/”the place where the life is laid down” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. )
Tzotzil: “where they place God’s gifts” (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.)
Tsafiki: “table for giving to God” (source: Bruce Moore in Notes on Translation 1/1992, p. 1ff.)
Noongar: karla-kooranyi or “sacred fire” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “offering-burning table” (source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “place for sacrificing” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “burning-place” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tibetan: mchod khri (མཆོད་ཁྲི།) or “offering throne” (source: gSungrab website )
Bura-Pabir: “sacrifice mound” (source: Andy Warrren-Rothlin)
Kalanga: “fireplace of sacrifice” (source: project-specific notes in Paratext)
Cherokee: “fire nurturing place” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 26) (note that the Jewish priest is “fire feeder” in Cherokee)

The Ignaciano translators decided to translate the difficult term in that language according to the focus of each New Testament passage in which the word appears (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight

Willis Ott (in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.) explains:

Matt. 5:23,24: “When you take your offering to God, and arriving, you remember…, do not offer your gift yet. First go to your brother…Then it is fitting to return and offer your offering to God.” (The focus is on improving relationships with people before attempting to improve a relationship with God, so the means of offering, the altar, is not focal.)
Matt. 23:18 (19,20): “You also teach erroneously: ‘If someone makes a promise, swearing by the offering-place/table, he is not guilty if he should break the promise. But if he swears by the gift that he put on the offering-place/table, he will be guilty if he breaks the promise.'”
Luke 1:11: “…to the right side of the table where they burn incense.”
Luke 11.51. “…the one they killed in front of the temple (or the temple enclosure).” (The focus is on location, with overtones on: “their crime was all the more heinous for killing him there”.)
Rom. 11:3: “Lord, they have killed all my fellow prophets that spoke for you. They do not want anyone to give offerings to you in worship.” (The focus is on the people’s rejection of religion, with God as the object of worship.)
1Cor. 9:13 (10:18): “Remember that those that attend the temple have rights to eat the foods that people bring as offerings to God. They have rights to the meat that the people offer.” (The focus is on the right of priests to the offered food.)
Heb. 7:13: “This one of whom we are talking is from another clan. No one from that clan was ever a priest.” (The focus in on the legitimacy of this priest’s vocation.)
Jas. 2:21: “Remember our ancestor Abraham, when God tested him by asking him to give him his son by death. Abraham was to the point of stabbing/killing his son, thus proving his obedience.” (The focus is on the sacrifice as a demonstration of faith/obedience.)
Rev. 6:9 (8:3,5; 9:13; 14:18; 16:7): “I saw the souls of them that…They were under the table that holds God’s fire/coals.” (This keeps the concepts of: furniture, receptacle for keeping fire, and location near God.)
Rev. 11:1: “Go to the temple, Measure the building and the inside enclosure (the outside is contrasted in v. 2). Measure the burning place for offered animals. Then count the people who are worshiping there.” (This altar is probably the brazen altar in a temple on earth, since people are worshiping there and since outside this area conquerors are allowed to subjugate for a certain time.)

tabernacle (noun)

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “tabernacle” in English is translated in San Blas Kuna as “house of prayer that can be carried.” (Source: Ronald Ross)

In Bandi it is translated as “holy sitting place.” The “sitting place for the Bandi is where you live.” Therefore the tabernacle is the place where God lived. (Source: Becky Grossmann in this newsletter )

In Vidunda it is translated as “God’s tent” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext) and in Tibetan as gur mchog (གུར་མཆོག) or “perfect tent” (source: gSungrab website )

In American Sign Language it is translated with with a sign for “tent” combined with a sign referring to the outer court surrounding the tent (see Exodus 27:9 and following). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)

“Tabernacle” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Josh 22:29)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding the heads of the families of Israel.

grain offering

The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated as “grain offering” is translated in Tatar as “bread gift,” in the Italian Traduzione interconfessionale in lingua corrente (2014) as offerta di vegetali (“vegetable offering”), in the French Parole de Vie (2000) as un produit de la terre (“a product of the earth”) and in German as Speiseopfer (“food offering”). (Source: Lénart de Regt in The Bible Translator 2017, p. 131ff. )

complete verse (Joshua 22:29)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 22:29:

Kupsabiny: “No person is able to build another altar to replace that one of our God which is in front of his Tent. So, we shall never disobey God by building another where sacrifices are burnt.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “We have certainly not rebelled against the LORD. We also have not stopped obeying Him. We have not built an altar in addition to the altar of the LORD our God, which is in front the Tabernacle, in order to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘We (excl.) can not rebel-against or turn-away-from the LORD by-means-of setting-up/building our (excl.) own altar for burnt offerings, gift offerings, and still other offerings. We will/should- not -exchange the altar of the LORD our (incl.) God that (is) there in front of his Tent.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “We certainly do not want to rebel against Yahweh or stop doing what he desires, by building an altar for completely burning some sacrifices and burning grain offerings and making other sacrifices. We know that there is only one true altar for Yahweh our God, and it is in front of the Sacred Tent at Shiloh.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

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Verse: Joshua 22:29