years (age)

In Aekyom, years are counted as “turtles” (ambum).

Norm Mundhenk tells this story:

“Recently I was checking some New Testament material in the Aekyom language of western Papua New Guinea. It seemed relatively clear until suddenly we came to a passage that started, ‘When Jesus had 12 turtles, …’ Surely I had misunderstood what they said.
“‘Did you say that Jesus had 12 turtles?’
“‘Let us explain! Around here there is a certain time every year when river turtles come up on the banks and lay their eggs. Because this is so regular, it can be used as a way of counting years. Someone’s age is said to be how many turtles that person has. So when we say that Jesus had 12 turtles, we mean that Jesus was 12 years old.’
“It was of course the familiar story of Jesus’ trip with his parents to Jerusalem. And certainly, as we all know, Jesus did indeed have 12 turtles at that time!”

In Tok Pisin, krismas (derived from “christmas”) is taken as the fixed annual marker, so Jesus had 12 “christmases” (Jisas i gat 12-pela krismas pinis) or Abram (in Gen. 12:4) had 75 (Abram i gat 75 krismas) (source: Norm Mundhenk). In Noongar it is biroka kadak or “summers had” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

See also advanced in years.

family / clan / house

The Hebrew terms that are translated as “family” or “clan” or “house” or similar in English are all translated in Kwere as ng’holo or “clan.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as “kin-group.”

See also tribe.

complete verse (Numbers 1:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 1:18:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then, Moses and Aaron said to those leaders that they were to gather all the men who were twenty years and above that. A person was registered/written according to his house/family and his clan.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “[and] on the 1st day of the 2nd month, they assembled the whole community and made a list of the names of the men of their clans and families [who were] 20 years [of age] or older,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Moises and Aaron caused-to-gather together/along with these leaders/[lit. heads] the entire community that very-same day. They listed all the men who are- 20 years -of-age above, according to their blood-relatives and families.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “and they gathered all of the people together on that same day. They listed/wrote down the names of all the men who were at least 20 years old, and with their names they wrote the names of their clans and their family groups” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 1:17 - 1:18

A new paragraph begins at verse 17. Moses and Aaron carry out God’s instructions given in the preceding verses. The time and setting given in verses 18 and 19 repeat the information of verse 1 in reverse order.

Moses and Aaron took these men who have been named: A literal translation of the verb took may suggest that Moses and Aaron carried these men off somewhere. If so, it will be more natural to use the verb “called.” These men who have been named refers back to the men listed in verses 5b-15. Good News Translation says simply “these twelve men.”

And on the first day of the second month: As in verse 1 (see the comments there), the first day of the second month is still in the second year since the Exodus from Egypt. The Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation, makes this explicit by saying “the first [day] of the month of the second year.”

They assembled the whole congregation together: It is not immediately clear who is the referent for the pronoun they. Did only Moses and Aaron assemble the congregation, or did the twelve tribal representatives do this, or all fourteen of them? In line with verses 4-5 the twelve representatives did not have more than an assisting role, so Good News Translation renders this clause and verse 17 as “With the help of these twelve men Moses and Aaron called together the whole community,” which is a good model. For congregation see verse 2.

Who registered themselves by families, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head: This rendering brings out much more accurately than Good News Translation the reflexive character of the Hebrew verb here; the verb’s subject is all the men twenty years old or older in the community. In some languages a passive verb will be more natural; for example, this clause may be rendered “and the names of all the men twenty years old or older were registered [or, recorded] by clans and families.” If a passive construction is not available either, then Good News Translation provides an acceptable model by having the same subject for “called together” and “registered.”

For by families, by fathers’ houses, see verse 2. The Hebrew here is better rendered “by clans and families.”

For from twenty years old and upward, see verse 3.

For head by head, see verse 2. Not a single man was left out, so Good News Translation says “all the men.” Another possible model is “each one of the men.”

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .