21Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat and sending it away into the wilderness by means of someone designated for the task.
The Hebrew, Ge’ez and Greek that is typically translated as “confess” in English in the context of these verses is translated in a variety of ways. Here are some (back-) translations:
Huastec: “to take aim at one’s sin” (“an idiom which is derived from the action of a hunter taking aim at a bird or animal”) (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Tabasco Chontal: “say, It is true, I’ve done evil” (source: Larson 1998, p. 204)
Central Pame: “pull out the heart” (“so that it may be clearly seen — not just by men, but by God”) (source: Nida 1952, p. 155)
Shipibo-Conibo: “say, It is true I have sinned” (source: Nida 1964, p. 228)
Obolo: itutumu ijo isibi: “speak out sin” (source: Enene Enene).
Tagbanwa: “testify that one would now drop/give-up sin” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Low German translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006: “steppe”
Yakan: “the lonely place” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a land where no people lived” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “the place with no inhabitants” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Cherokee: inage or “far away downstream” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16)
Matumbi uses various term: lubele (desert, sandy place without water) — used in John 11:54, lupu’ngu’ti (a place where no people live, can be a scrub land, a forest, or a savanna) — used in Mark 1:3 et al.), and mwitu (a forest, a place where wild animals live) — used in Mark 1:13 et al.) (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Chichewa Contemporary translation (2002/2016): chipululu: a place uninhabited by people with thick forest and bush (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Note that in Luke 15:4, usually a term is used that denotes pastoral land, such as “eating/grazing-place,” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is typically translated as “sin” in English has a wide variety of translations.
The Greek ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) carries the original verbatim meaning of “miss the mark” and likewise, many translations contain the “connotation of moral responsibility.”
Loma: “leaving the road” (which “implies a definite standard, the transgression of which is sin”)
Navajo (Dinė): “that which is off to the side” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
Toraja-Sa’dan: kasalan, originally meaning “transgression of a religious or moral rule” and in the context of the Bible “transgression of God’s commandments” (source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21ff. )
Bariai: “bad behavior” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Sandawe: “miss the mark” (like the original meaning of the Greek term) (source for this and above: Ursula Wiesemann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 36ff., 43)
Nias: horö, originally a term primarily used for sexual sin. (Source: Hummel / Telaumbanua 2007, p. 256)
In Shipibo-Conibo the term is hocha. Nida (1952, p. 149) tells the story of its choosing: “In some instances a native expression for sin includes many connotations, and its full meaning must be completely understood before one ever attempts to use it. This was true, for example, of the term hocha first proposed by Shipibo-Conibo natives as an equivalent for ‘sin.’ The term seemed quite all right until one day the translator heard a girl say after having broken a little pottery jar that she was guilty of ‘hocha.’ Breaking such a little jar scarcely seemed to be sin. However, the Shipibos insisted that hocha was really sin, and they explained more fully the meaning of the word. It could be used of breaking a jar, but only if the jar belonged to someone else. Hocha was nothing more nor less than destroying the possessions of another, but the meaning did not stop with purely material possessions. In their belief God owns the world and all that is in it. Anyone who destroys the work and plan of God is guilty of hocha. Hence the murderer is of all men most guilty of hocha, for he has destroyed God’s most important possession in the world, namely, man. Any destructive and malevolent spirit is hocha, for it is antagonistic and harmful to God’s creation. Rather than being a feeble word for some accidental event, this word for sin turned out to be exceedingly rich in meaning and laid a foundation for the full presentation of the redemptive act of God.”
Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the DanishBibelen 2020, comments on the translation of this term: “We would explain terms, such that e.g. sin often became ‘doing what God does not want’ or ‘breaking God’s law’, ‘letting God down’, ‘disrespecting God’, ‘doing evil’, ‘acting stupidly’, ‘becoming guilty’. Now why couldn’t we just use the word sin? Well, sin in contemporary Danish, outside of the church, is mostly used about things such as delicious but unhealthy foods. Exquisite cakes and chocolates are what a sin is today.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 16:21:
Kupsabiny: “He is to place both hands on the head of the he-goat and confess their evil, rebellion and all the sins of the people of Israel placing it all on the head of the he-goat, and then a person is chosen who brings the he-goat to the wilderness.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Then Aaron, putting both hands on the goat’s head, confessing all the evil deeds, sins and transgressions of the Israelites, must bind them to the goat’s head. Then he must give that goat to the man who will take it into the wilderness.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “He is-to-place his two hands on the head of the goat and he is-to-confess all the sins and the disobedience of the Israelinhon. Then Aaron is-to-have- the goat -be-released into the desolate-place by a man who (is) in-charge (to do) this.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “He must put both of his hands on the head of the goat and confess all the sins of the Israeli people. By doing that, he will put the guilt of their sins on the head of the goat. Then he must give the goat to a man who is chosen, and that man will send the goat out into the desert.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “goat” in English is translated in Cherokee as ahwi dinihanulvhi or “bearded deer.” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 18)
Shall lay both his hands: in many languages it is unnecessary and even awkward to introduce the term both when the plural for hands is used. But in other cases it is possible to use the word for emphasis. Naturalness in the receptor language will determine what the translator does in this case. It should be remembered, however, that the usual practice was to put only one hand on the head of the sin offering (see 4.4). So some kind of emphasis is desirable if it can be done naturally in the language of translation.
The live goat: it may be unnecessary in some languages to repeat the word live if one says “that goat [already referred to in verse 20]” or simply “the goat,” using the definite article.
Confess: if the usual term for this is a technical term which may have undesirable connotations, a similar term may be used, such as “recite,” “admit,” or “list.” See 5.5.
Iniquities … transgressions … sins …: in the following verse these three terms are summarized with the single word “iniquities.” They are practically synonymous here but should be translated as separate words if the receptor language has the resources to do so. See verse 16.
Put them upon the head of the goat: in some languages it may be better to omit the reference to the head of the animal, since it is the whole animal that goes away into the desert. But the more difficult problem is to understand how, or in what sense, the sins of the people can be transferred to the goat. It may be necessary to say something like “assigning them to the goat,” or “passing them on to the goat,” or “transmitting them to the goat.” In some languages a careful choice of expression for confess may help clarify the idea of a transfer of guilt.
And send him away …: instead of the conjunction and, it may be more understandable if a stronger transition word such as “then” or “next” is used in this context. The verb used here has been understood to mean “driven off” (Good News Translation) or “lead away” (compare An American Translation). But the verb “to send” seems out of place here. According to Jewish tradition the goat is taken to the top of a high cliff or ledge and then pushed off in order that it might be killed. This would imply the presence of someone leading the animal up to the last moment.
By the hand of a man who is in readiness: specific reference to the hand is not necessary and may even be misleading in some languages. The point is that a particular person was designated in advance to be the one who would lead or drive the animal out into the desert. One may translate “by the person appointed (or, chosen) for the task.”
Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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