chariot

The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated into English as “chariot” is translated into Anuak as “canoe pulled by horse.” “Canoe” is the general term for “vehicle” (source: Loren Bliese). Similarly it is translated in Lokạạ as ukwaa wạ nyanyang ntuuli or “canoe that is driven by horses.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Other translations include:

  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “cart pulled by horses” (source: Larson 1998, p. 98)
  • Chichicapan Zapotec: “ox cart” (in Acts 8) (ox carts are common vehicles for travel) (source: Loren Bliese)
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz, it is translated as “little house with two feet pulled by two horses” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Hausa Common Language Bible as keken-doki or “cart of donkey” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Mairasi: “going-thing [vehicle]” (source: Enggavoter 2004)

It is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:

Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

See also cart.

complete verse (Judges 5:28)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Judges 5:28:

  • Kupsabiny: “The mother of Sisera is at the window,
    wanting to see her son returning home.
    That woman says,
    ‘Why is his chariot so much delayed today?
    Why do we not hear the footsteps of the horses?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Sisera’s mother was watching from the window,
    ‘Why are Sisera’s chariots [so] slow in coming?’
    She asked through the latticed window,
    ‘Why are his horses coming so late?’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The mother of Sisera was-looking-out the window and was not at-ease. She was-asking why her child/(son) was so-long to-arrive.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Sisera’s mother looked out from her window.
    She waited for him to return.
    She said, ‘Why is he taking so long to come home in his chariot?
    Why don’t I hear the sound of the wheels of his chariot?’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Judges 5:28

As with previous stanzas (verse 5.19, 24), this one begins with a chiasm or X pattern.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .