altar

The Greek 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)
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.)

See also altar (Acts 17:23).


In the Hebraic English translation of Everett Fox it is translated as slaughter-site and likewise in the German translation by Buber / Rosenzweig as Schlachtstatt.

Translation commentary on Judges 6:32

This verse concludes the episode by explaining why Gideon’s name was changed to Jerubbaal.

Therefore renders well the Hebrew waw conjunction, since it introduces a conclusion here. Another possible connector is “So” (New International Version, New American Bible).

On that day refers to the day on which the altar was destroyed. Contemporary English Version says “That same day.” Good News Translation sees this event as happening in the present but having future repercussions, so it has “From then on.” Another possibility is “From that day on.”

He was called Jerubbaal is literally “he called him Jerubbaal.” Some versions think it was Joash, Gideon’s father, who renamed him (so Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible). But other versions, like Revised Standard Version, prefer to leave out the agent. In such contexts many languages use an impersonal form, for example, “they named him Jerubbaal” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Good News Translation says “Gideon was known as Jerubbaal,” which is very natural in English but does not refer to the actual renaming. In some languages it might be appropriate to put the new name in quotes by saying “his name was changed to ‘Jerubbaal.’ ” The Hebrew name Jerubbaal means “let Baal contend,” which is stated in the next clause. Instead of transliterating this name, some translators put the meaning directly into the text by saying “he was called ‘Let Baal contend against him.’ ” However, since the narrator provides the meaning, it is better to follow the text here. Without knowing Hebrew, the audience can hear or see that Baal’s name is being used in derision.

That is to say renders a Hebrew quotation marker, the participle meaning “saying.” Here it introduces the meaning of the name Jerubbaal, so translators might say “which means.” It is very important for readers to understand that the name Jerubbaal has a meaning in connection with the story that is told. In many cultures it is a well-known practice to give the meaning of names.

Let Baal contend against him gives the sense of the name Jerubbaal. In Israel some other people were also given names with Baal being mentioned. For example, King Saul had a son named Esh-baal (verse 1 Chr 8.33), which means “man of Baal.” Contend is the same verb used in the previous verse. The pronoun him refers to Gideon.

Because he pulled down his altar: This is exactly the same clause that ended the previous verse but here it explains why Gideon was given a new name. In this context it is clear that the pronoun he refers to Gideon and the pronoun his refers to Baal. In some languages it may be helpful to make this clear by rendering this clause as “because Gideon pulled down Baal’s altar.” Some languages may prefer to put this reason clause at the beginning of the verse (see second model below). It is obvious that Gideon is now considered a kind of hero, and his name “Let Baal defend himself” is a way to mock that god and the people who followed him.

Translation models for this verse are:

• So from that day on, Gideon was called “Jerubbaal,” meaning “Let Baal defend himself,” because Gideon had pulled down the altar of Baal.

• Because Gideon had broken down Baal’s altar, from then on, people called him “Jerubbaal,” meaning “Let Baal defend himself.”

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 .