fat, oil

The different Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Leviticus 24:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 24:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “Tell the people/community of Israel to bring to you the best prepared olive oil so that the lamps can be burning without going out.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “’Give the Israelites a command like this — ‘In order that there continue to be a flame [and] that the lamp does not stop burning, they must bring pure oil of the olive tree the finest quality. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The LORD commanded Moises to have- the Israelinhon -obey/follow this:
    You (plur.) are-to-bring pure olive oil which was-pounded for the lamps in the Holy Place where the presence of the LORD (is), so-that the burning of this will- not -cease/stop. Each evening, Aaron is-to-light this and is-to-continue/keep (it) burning until (it) becomes-morning. He is-to-make- very -sure that the lamps are- always -burning on this thing-to-put-(the-lamp)/(lampstand) which (is) pure gold. These regulations/[lit. what-is-to-be-followed] you (plur.) should follow until generations to come.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Command the Israeli people to continually bring to you clear oil made from pressed olives to burn in the lamps in the Sacred Tent, in order that those lamps will burn all the time.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

olive

The olive family has over four hundred species in the world. Many of them grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but it is the one in the Bible, the European Olive Olea europaea, that has become famous. It is likely that the olive was domesticated in Egypt or the eastern Mediterranean basin in the third millennium B.C. The botanist Newberry argued that Egypt was its original home. We know from the Bible that olives grew in the hills of Samaria and in the foothills. There is a wild variety, called Olea europaea sylvestris, that is smaller than the domestic one; it produces a smaller fruit with less oil. The Apostle Paul refers to this wild variety in Romans 11:17 and 11:24. Olives are easily propagated by cuttings and by grafting fruitful species into less fruitful ones. They grow best on hillsides where the rain drains off quickly. The fruit forms by August but does not ripen until December or January.

The olive is not a big tree, reaching up to perhaps 10 meters (33 feet), but with pruning it is usually kept to around 5 meters (17 feet) tall. The leaves are grayish green above, and whitish underneath. The bark of young trees is silvery gray but gets darker and rougher as the tree ages. The trunk also gets twisted and hollow and may reach over a meter in thickness. Olives grow for hundreds of years, and some in Israel have possibly reached two thousand years.

The fruit of the olive is about 2 centimeters (1 inch) long and a bit more than a centimeter (1/2 inch) thick. It has a hard stone inside and a soft skin that covers the oily flesh. Today a mature tree may yield 10-20 kilograms (22-44 pounds) of fruit, which, when processed, will yield 1.3-2.6 kilograms (3.6 pounds) of oil.

For the Jews the “big three” trees were the vine, the fig, and the olive. People ate olive fruits, but more importantly, they squeezed the oil from the fruits, and used it for cooking, for lamps, for rubbing on the body, for medicine, and in religion. Jacob poured olive oil on the stone where he saw a vision of angels, declaring it a holy place (Genesis 28:18). Moses, similarly, anointed the Tabernacle and its equipment with olive oil mixed with sweet-smelling resins (Exodus 40:9). Aaron and the priests who served in the Tabernacle were also anointed (Exodus 29:21).

Some types of wild olive grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but are not well-known. The so-called “African olive” produces a black, oil-bearing fruit much like an olive. It is common as a snack in northern Nigeria. The “Chinese olive” is also a species of Canarium and may be a possible cultural substitute, if it produces edible fruit and oil. The “Russian olive” grown in dry regions of the world is a member of the Elaeagnus family and not a true olive. A variety of olive (Olea cuspidate) is used for building in India and Nepal, but it is probably not possible to use it in the Bible except perhaps in a study Bible where you could say that the biblical olive was related to this tree.

Since most of the kinds of olive trees in the world do not have edible fruit, it may not be possible to substitute a local variety. If it is done, however, a footnote would be required saying that the Palestinian kind produced edible fruit and oil. If a variety of Canarium is eaten in your area, you could use the local name for it. Otherwise transliterate from a major language.

Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 24:1-2

Said to Moses: see 4.1.

Command the people of Israel: in other contexts where a series of regulations is introduced, the verb used is simply “Say…” (as in 23.34 and elsewhere), but a stronger term is used in this verse. Also at this point the translator must once again decide whether to use direct (as in Revised Standard Version) or indirect discourse (as in Good News Translation). Naturalness in the receptor language should be the determining factor. It is even possible to have an additional level of quotation, since Moses tells the people what the LORD told him. But quotations within quotations are often a problem in languages that do not have a long history of written documents.

Pure oil from beaten olives: this indicates the purest and finest available olive oil, which results from pounding the olives in a mortar and then straining the liquid. The idea of purity may be expressed in some languages by the word “clear,” which is very similar to the Hebrew. Compare 2.1 where the more general term for oil is used. The whole phrase may be rendered “clear oil from olives that have been crushed.”

The lamp … a light: the Hebrew has the singular forms lamp and light here, but the singular may possibly be taken in the collective sense, making it synonymous with “lamps” in verse 4. Porter, however, insists that this passage, together with Exodus 27.20-21 and other references, indicates the presence of a single lamp, separate from the lamps that were on the lampstand mentioned in verse 4 and following and that were described in Exodus 25.31-40 and 37.17-24. In this case, the distinction between the singular and plural (verse 4) should be maintained in the receptor language.

Continually: this may be translated “every evening” or “regularly,” since the following verse makes it clear that they did not burn throughout the day. In some languages the habitual form of the verb may be adequate to translate the idea here.

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 .