myrtle

The Myrtle Myrtus communis is found in the mountains of the Galilee region up to the present, as well as in North Africa and throughout the Middle East. In the apocalyptic passage Isaiah 41:19 it is listed with cedars, acacias, and olives, and we are told that in the new age these verdant trees will replace the thorny bushes of the wilderness. The Arabic as (آس) and the Akkadian asu (𒊍 / 𒀀𒋢𒌝) are cognates of the Hebrew word hadas. The leaves and flowers of the myrtle are used in weddings and in medicine. The wood is used for walking sticks and furniture. The bark and roots yield tannin, used up to the present day in Russia and Turkey to prepare leather.

The myrtle shrub is an evergreen with fragrant leaves and normally grows to a height of 2-3 meters (7-10 feet). It has leathery, dark green leaves, pretty white flowers, and bluish black berries, which have a sweet smell.

Nehemiah 8:15 tells us that branches of the myrtle and other trees were used to make shelters for the Festival of Shelters, a practice still followed by Jews today. The Isaiah references associate the myrtle with a time of renewal and goodness. Taken together we may conclude that when Zechariah situates his vision of horses and riders “among the myrtles,” he is thinking of a sacred place, a place of God’s presence, possibly even a “gateway to heaven,” although the use of the definite article may also point to a particular place that Zechariah and his readers knew about. Some commentators hold that the myrtles in Zechariah’s vision represent the people of Israel. Note that these myrtles are said to be growing in some kind of depression in the ground, whether a valley or ravine, which may itself be symbolic of a negative national experience, perhaps even the Babylonian Exile, as some have suggested.

Myrtles are part of the gigantic Myrtaceae family that includes at least three thousand species throughout the world, including the guava, the eucalyptus, and the clove. Close relatives of the myrtle, however, may be hard to find, so a transliteration from a major language may be the best option. In the poetical Isaiah passages the handling of hadas will depend on what the translator does with the other names of trees in the list, whether they use literary equivalents or transliterations. In Nehemiah, transliteration is advised, unless, of course, myrtle or a close relative of it is known. In Zechariah, since we do not know the significant features of the myrtle that the writer had in mind, it is difficult to make an appropriate descriptive equivalent. However, a transliteration or a generic phrase such as “shrubs” or “small, leafy trees” may be used.

Myrtle flowers, photo by Nigel Hepper
Myrtle branch, photo by Gloria Suess

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

Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jerusalem .

date palm

More than forty types of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) are found in dry tropical countries all the way from the Canary Islands, across Africa to India. They probably originated in the Middle East, where they are still found in abundance. In Leviticus 23:40 we read that the branches of date palms were to be used for the Festival of Shelters, and in John 12:13 people welcomed Jesus with date palm leaves. In the latter case there is a legitimate question of where they got the leaves, since Jerusalem is rather too high and cold for date palms. But the same could be asked about the prophetess Deborah’s palm (Judges 4:5), which was located between Ramah and Bethel, scarcely lower than Jerusalem. Jericho was known as the “city of palm trees” (temarim in Hebrew). Date fruits were eaten fresh or dried and pressed into “cakes,” and they were sometimes made into a drink. It is possible that in Deuteronomy 8:8 the Hebrew word devash that we normally take as “honey” refers to a syrup made from dates. The leaves were and are used for mats, baskets, fences, and roofs. Date palms are now cultivated intensively in the Jordan and Aravah valleys, around the Dead Sea, and on the coastal plain of Israel. The word “date” entered English from Latin dactylus via Old French datil. Latin got it from Greek daktylos, meaning “finger.”

The date palm typically grows to a height of 10-20 meters (33-66 feet) and has a cluster of immense leaves at the top. Each year, old leaves wither and droop, and people who own palms cut the old branches off. The tightly packed bunch of immature leaves is called lulav in Hebrew. Date palms start bearing fruit at around five to eight years of age. The sweet fruits, a little smaller than a human thumb, grow in large bunches. Inside the soft fruit is a very hard seed about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) long. Date palm trees are either male or female, and there are places where the trees of one sex grow but no fruit is seen, because they lack pollination. Farmers prefer to propagate them by cultivating the suckers that grow at the base of the tree, rather than from seeds, which would produce too many male trees. The fruit appears on the female tree in the summer (June-August).

In Song of Songs 7:7 we find the palm used as a symbol of elegance and grace. In Psalm 92:12–14 we are told that the righteous will flourish like the palm tree, but Job 15:32 says the wicked will wither like a dry palm branch. In 1 Maccabees 13:37 the palm branch is a symbol of peace, but in 1 Maccabees 13:51 it is a symbol of victory (so also John 12.13; Rev 7.9; 2 Macc 10.7).

Translators living along the West African coast often substitute the oil palm or the coconut palm for the date palm, which is found normally in desert areas. Others are familiar with the fan palm (Borassus, “ruhn palm”) but they should note that the shape of the leaf of the fan palm is quite different from that of the date palm. I am not aware of a non-European language that has a generic word for palm. Since the function of palm branches in the Festival of Shelters is to build rough shelters, the type of palm tree does not make a lot of difference. The same is true for references where the image of the palm is used as a decoration, as in the description of the Temple (see 1 Kings 6:29 et al.). In cases where the fruit is mentioned, a transliteration is recommended, either from the Hebrew word tamar or from a major language.

In locations where oil and coconut palm trees are found, but no date palms, the oil palm is to be preferred. In places where no palms are found, it is still possible that the date fruit is found in markets, particularly in Muslim-dominated areas, where it may be a popular item for breaking the fast during Ramadan. In northern Nigeria, a dwarf species of date palm (Phoenix reclinata) grows in ravines and bears small edible fruits much like the big palm. At least one translation there (Berom) makes use of the local name.

It would seem then that if the date palm is not known at all, the options here are:

1. use the word for oil or coconut palm (and consider writing a footnote that indicates that the Hebrew words tamar and tomer and the Greek word phoinix refer to a similar tree that has a quite different fruit);
2. transliterate from Hebrew (tomera, tamara) and Greek (fonis, fowinik);
3. transliterate from a major language, for example, nakhal/temer (Arabic), dattier (French), datil/palmera (Spanish), mtende (Swahili), khajoor (खजूर) (Hindi), and hǎizǎo (海枣 / 海棗) (Chinese);
4. use a generic phrase appropriate to the context, for example, “beautiful tree.”

Date palm, photo by Ray Pritz

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

In Chichewa, gwalanga, the word for the local fan palm is used for translation. In rural areas people use the leaves for vegetables. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (Nehemiah 8:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Nehemiah 8:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “He had said that this was to be announced in Jerusalem and all their towns, informing all the people to ascend a hill and pick branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm leaves and other plants/trees. Those people were expected to use those branches to put up tents for resting on the day of that feast, according to how the law says.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And they should let-it-be-known to Jerusalem and to the rest of their towns the command of the LORD that they will-go-up to the mountains and take the branches of olive-trees, myrtles, palms, and the branches of the shady/leafy trees in-order to make roofed-shelters, according to what was-written in the Law.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They also learned that they should proclaim in Jerusalem and in all the towns that the people should go to the hills and cut branches from olive trees that they have planted and from wild olive trees and from myrtle trees and palm trees and fig trees. They should make shelters from these branches, and live in those shelters during the festival, just as Moses wrote that they should do.” (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 Nehemiah 8:15

They should publish and proclaim in all their towns and in Jerusalem: Publish and proclaim are near synonyms. The first verb has the causative meaning of announcing, that is, of making people to hear. The second verb is literally “to cause to pass by” or “to cause to pass through,” that is, “to make the message known publicly.” New English Bible combines the two verbs in the expression “make proclamation” and Revised English Bible says “issue this proclamation.” The instruction to proclaim the festival is from Lev 23.4, where it refers to all the festivals.

Because this event was taking place in Jerusalem, Good News Translation reverses the order of in all their towns and in Jerusalem by saying “through Jerusalem and the other cities and towns.” Revised Standard Version says explicitly that they should make the announcement in the towns and in Jerusalem, but Good News Translation implies the announcing.

As indicated by the different renderings of the beginning of this verse in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, two readings are possible. The Hebrew text is followed by Revised Standard Version (also Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), which indicates that these instructions were found in the Law. Good News Translation represents a reading that omits one word of the Hebrew text (also New Jerusalem Bible, Osty-Trinquet). It has the heads of the clans, the priests, and the Levites giving the instructions instead of the people of Israel. The Handbook recommends that the translation be according to the Hebrew text. Parole de Vie follows the Hebrew text and offers a good model for verses 14-15 as follows:

• In this law that the LORD gave them through Moses, they find this order: the Israelites should live in shelters during the festival of Shelters, the seventh month. They should make the following [instructions] known and announce it to everyone in all their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out on the mountain. Bring back branches of wild or domestic olive trees….”

Go out to the hills: The people are instructed to Go out of the towns and out of Jerusalem to the hills. The Hebrew word for hills is often translated “mountains” as in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “Go out to the mountains.” The mountains are sometimes identified with prosperity in the Old Testament (for example, in Psa 72.3; see A Handbook on Psalms), but here the reference is simply to hillsides or “the hill country” (New International Version), where the trees were growing.

Bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written: In Lev 23.40 it is written that the people are to bring branches on the first day of the festival, but the purpose of bringing the branches is not given. It may have been the custom to wave branches in a procession on that day (compare Matt 21.8; John 12.13; Rev 7.9). Here it was considered, either from tradition or from their own interpretation of the instructions, that the branches were to be used to make booths. This interpretation is given the authority of Scripture by the words as it is written in the Law, as Good News Translation makes explicit.

The trees listed here are not the same as in Lev 23.40 but correspond to those commonly found around Jerusalem at that time. Olive refers to the evergreen tree, Olea europaea, which is commonly found in Palestine and the Mediterranean region (see Gen 8.11). Wild olive, which is literally “oil tree,” is probably a member of the pine or cypress family (see 1 Kgs 6.23, where Revised Standard Version has “olivewood”). Myrtle is the evergreen shrub, Myrtis communis, which has fragrant leaves (see Isa 41.19). Palm refers to the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, which grows in the valleys around Jerusalem (see Exo 15.27). The description other leafy trees is mentioned in Lev. 23.40 and is used of the oak tree in Ezek 6.13.

Where these trees are not known, descriptive noun compounds may be used or descriptive phrases. Olive trees are “oil trees” or “trees that bear fruit for oil.” If Revised Standard Version is followed for wild olive, domestic trees are planted by people while wild trees are not deliberately planted. They grow in the wild or in the bush. If Good News Translation and most other versions are followed, pines or cypress trees are “trees that do not lose their leaves” or “trees whose leaves do not fall.” The myrtle is a “small tree that smells good.” The date palm may be referred to generically as a palm tree or it may be described as a “fruit-bearing tree of dry places.” The Hebrew text adds other leafy trees to the list of trees that are named individually. The implication is that all these trees are “trees having leafy branches.” Contemporary English Version renders it “branches of leafy trees.” Good News Translation, however, assumes that leafy is implied in the meaning of “branches,” while Traduction œcuménique de la Bible repeats “foliage” with each tree and then says “and the foliage of other trees that are bushy.” The Traduction œcuménique de la Bible rendering is both clear and explicit and is therefore a good model for translators to follow.

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 .