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).

See also offering (qorban).

complete verse (Leviticus 17:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 17:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “Emphasize to them that any person of Israel or a foreigner who lives among you who makes a sacrifice that is burned completely or as a gift,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “And you speak to them like this — ‘When anyone among the Israelites or the foreigners living with them offers a burnt offering or any other sacrifice, ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (plur.)] observe/heed this carefully, you (plur.) Israelinhon and foreigners living with you (plur.):
    Any one of you (plur.) who offers whatever offerings in other places” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘And tell this to the people: ‘If any Israeli or any foreigner who is living among them brings an offering that is to be completely burned on the altar, or any other sacrifice,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 17:8

In Hebrew verses 8 and 9 are worded in the same way as verses 3-4. They provide a resume of what has already been stated in the previous verses. But they also add two new bits of information: that the rule also applies to foreigners, and that it concerns burnt offerings as well.

And you shall say to them …: this is a repetition, or reminder, of what is said at the beginning (verses 1-2). It is quite possible to leave this information implicit, as has been done in Good News Translation. But it may also be possible in some languages to use such a phrase to remind the reader that this is a continuation of what the LORD told Moses to communicate to the people of Israel.

Any man of the house of Israel: see verse 3.

Strangers that sojourn among them: here we are concerned with the category of foreigners or immigrants defined in 16.29.

Burnt offering: see chapter 1. Even if the desire to eat the meat of the animal (verse 5) is not the basic motivation, the slaughter of the animal may not take place just anywhere.

Sacrifice: Good News Translation clarifies the meaning by adding “any other sacrifice.”

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 .