hyssop

The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated in English as “hyssop” is translated in Lokạạ as yisoki. Yisoki “is the name of a local bitter herb that is used for ritual cleansing in the traditional religion. It was, therefore, perceived by the translators as functionally adequate for ‘hyssop.’ The translation is thus symbolic in that it uses an indigenous Lokạạ botanical term and simultaneously indexical in that the translators believed that the translation points to the functional significance of the incipient term.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

Likewise in Kwere mfumbasi is used, a local plant that both looked similar to hyssop and is traditionally used for sprinkling in rituals. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

For more information see Hyssopus officinalis .

complete verse (Numbers 19:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 19:18:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then a clean person shall take a sponge and immerse it in that water, and then he is to sprinkle it on that tent and all the utensils and also the people who are there. He must sprinkle that water also on any person who has touched the bone of a person or a person who was killed or a person who simply died or the one who touched a hole/grave.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then a clean person, taking a hyssop plant and dipping it in the water must sprinkle the Tent, the vessels of tent and the people who are there. A person who has touched the bone of a corpse, the corpse of a person who has been killed, a person who has died a natural death or a grave must also be sprinkled like that.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then a man who is-considered clean is-to-take a one cluster of a hyssop plant and he is-to-dip it into those water and then sprinkle in the tent where death-occurred and to all its equipment, and to the people who have-entered the tent. Also sprinkled the man who has-touched the bone of a man or the grave, or whoever was-killed or just died of a natural death. (note: I followed the ASD)” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then someone who is still acceptable to me must take a stalk of a plant named hyssop and dip it into the water. Then that person must sprinkle some of the water on the tent where that person died, on the things that are in the tent, and on the people who were in the tent. He must also sprinkle some of that water on any person who touched a human bone or who touched a person who died, or who touched a grave.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 19:18

Then a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it …: If translators already had to make the subject a clean person explicit in verse 17 (so Contemporary English Version), here they may say “That same person” (Contemporary English Version). For the Hebrew word rendered hyssop, see verse 6. As noted there, this word probably refers to the marjoram plant. This plant has a many-branched hairy stem. The hairs make it good as a brush, so it can be used to dip in water and then sprinkle the water. For the Hebrew verb rendered sprinkle, see verse 4 and 8.7.

Upon the tent, and upon all the furnishings, and upon the persons who were there refers to the first case of pollution mentioned in verses 14-15 (see the comments there). Furnishings translates a general Hebrew term for domestic utensils, equipment, and vessels, so other possible renderings for all the furnishings are “all that belongs to it [the tent]” and “everything in it” (Good News Translation).

And upon him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave refers to the second case of pollution mentioned in verse 16 (see the comments there). Revised English Bible provides a good model for this part of the verse, saying “or anyone who has touched a human bone, a corpse (whether the person was killed or died naturally), or a grave.”

Good News Translation clearly separates the two cases of pollution in this verse, but the purification procedure is the same for both. “The first case” refers to being in a tent where there is a human corpse (verses 14-15), while “the second case” refers to touching any human remains, even a grave, outdoors (verse 16).

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 .