39and above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Old Gate, and by the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate, and they came to a halt at the Gate of the Guard.
“Sheep are known throughout most of the world, even though, as in Central Africa, they are a far cry from the fleecy wool-producing animals of colder climates. Where such animals are known, even by seemingly strange names, e.g. ‘cotton deer’ (Yucateco) or ‘woolly goat’ (Inupiaq), such names should be used. In some instances, one may wish to borrow a name and use a classifier, e.g. ‘an animal called sheep.’ In still other instances translators have used ‘animal which produces wool’, for though people are not acquainted with the animals they are familiar with wool.” (Source: Bratcher / Nida)
In Dëne Súline, it is usually translated as “an evil little caribou.” To avoid the negative connotation, a loan word from the neighboring South Slavey was used. (Source: NCEM, p. 70)
Note that the often-alleged Inuktitut translation of “sheep” with “seal” is an urban myth (source Nida 1947, p. 136).
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Ephraim” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “palm tree” referring to the palm of Deborah in the land of Ephraim (see Judges 4:5. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Nehemiah 12:39:
Kupsabiny: “We went/continued like that until we passed the Gate of Ephraim and we reached the Old Gate. We passed the Fish Gate and the Raised place/Tower of Hananel, and continued like that to the Raised place/ Tower of Hundred. Then we continued to the Gate of Sheep and we ended at the Gate of Guards.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “From there we (incl.) passed-through the Entrance/Gate of Efraim, in the Old Entrance/Gate, Fish Entrance/Gate, Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred. Then we (incl.) passed-through the Entrance/Gate of the Sheep and stopped at the Entrance/Gate of the Guard.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “From there we marched past Ephraim Gate, Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, the Tower of the Hundred Soldiers, to the Sheep Gate. We finished marching near the gate into the temple.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Nehemiah continues to list landmarks along the route taken by this half of the procession. It went above the Gate of Ephraim (see Neh 8.16), by the Old Gate (see the comments at Neh 3.6), by the Fish Gate (see Neh 3.3) and the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred (see Neh 3.1), to the Sheep Gate (see comment at Neh 3.1). The route of this company ended at the Gate of the Guard. This may refer to the Muster Gate, the Temple gate giving access to the court of the Temple guard (see Neh 3.31).
The Hebrew prepositions in this verse are a problem for translators. The Hebrew preposition ʿal, which is rendered by, occurs with the Old Gate and the Fish Gate. It usually means “on, over, upon” and some translations therefore say “over” in this context (so Revised English Bible). The two towers have no prepositions with them. A variety of prepositions or no prepositions is possible in translating this verse. Revised Standard Version closely follows the Hebrew text, while Good News Translation simply indicates the movement and direction of the procession.
They came to a halt is a formal English expression for the ending of a procession. New English Bible says “they halted.” Good News Translation expresses it in a similar way with “We ended our march.” New International Version says “they stopped” without an allusion to a procession. Although the narrative has been told in the first person, the narrator here uses a third person plural form of the Hebrew verb. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and Nouvelle version Segond révisée accommodate this shift from first person to third person by using the French indefinite on (“one” in English) as the subject of the verb. A number of translations do as Good News Translation has done. They shift to a first person plural exclusive pronoun, “we stopped” (Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation), to maintain a consistency of reference. Translators will need to use the pronoun and appropriate verb form to make the narrative clear.
Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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