The Hebrew olah (עֹלָה) originally means “that which goes up (in smoke).” English Bibles often translates it as “burnt-offering” or “whole burnt-offering,” focusing on the aspect of the complete burning of the offering.
The GreekSeptuagint and the LatinVulgate Bibles translate it as holokautōma / holocautōsis (ὁλοκαύτωμα / ὁλοκαύτωσις) and holocaustum, respectively, meaning “wholly burnt.” While a form of this term is widely used in many Romance languages (Spanish: holocaustos, French: holocaustes, Italian: olocausti, Portuguese: holocaustos) and originally also in the Catholic tradition of English Bible translations, it is largely not used in English anymore today (the preface of the revised edition of the Catholic New American Bible of 2011: “There have been changes in vocabulary; for example, the term ‘holocaust’ is now normally reserved for the sacrilegious attempt to destroy the Jewish people by the Third Reich.”)
Since translation into Georgian was traditionally done on the basis of the Greek Septuagint, a transliteration of holokautōma was used as well, which was changed to a translation with the meaning of “burnt offering” when the Old Testament was retranslated in the 1980’s on the basis of the Hebrew text.
In the Koongo (Ki-manianga) translation by the Alliance Biblique de la R.D. Congo (publ. in 2015) olah is translated as “kill and offer sacrifice” (source: Anicet Bassilua) and in Elhomwe as “fire offering.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The English translation of Everett Fox uses offering-up (similarly, the German translation by Buber-Rosenzweig has Darhöhung and the French translation by Chouraqui montée).
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
In these verses, the verb that is translated as “meet” (or “find” or “see”) in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-ai (お会い), combining “to meet” (ai) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 23:15:
Kupsabiny: “Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stand here by these your sacrifices, and/but I shall go to meet with God.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Balaam said to Balak, "Please stand right here with your burnt offering while I go to meet the LORD."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Balaam said to Balak, ‘You (sing.) just (stay) here beside your (sing.) burnt offering while I meet the LORD there on ahead.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then Balaam said to the king, ‘Stand here close to your burned offerings, while I go and talk with Yahweh.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
Here, tatteite (立っていて) or “stay standing” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Balaam said to Balak is literally “And he said to Balak.” Revised Standard Version makes it explicit that the pronoun “he” refers to Balaam, as in many other translations, including the Septuagint and the Peshitta (compare verse 3).
Stand here beside your burnt offering: See verse 3, where this same clause occurs, except for the adverb here. Here renders the Hebrew particle koh, which also appears at the end of this verse, translated yonder. Translators may highlight the difference in these locations by rendering here and yonder as “right here” and “over yonder.”
While I meet the LORD yonder is literally “and I am met over there.” For the passive Hebrew verb rendered meet (yiqah), see the comments on verse 3, where it is translated “come.” In contrast to verse 3, Balaam does not refer to the LORD explicitly here. The LORD is not in the Hebrew text, but “God” (Good News Bible) is in the Septuagint. Unless it is necessary to make the LORD an explicit object in the target language, it may be good to mark this difference with verse 3 by saying “while a meeting befalls me over there” (NBG) or “while I wait over there for a new meeting” (Züricher). If a reference to the LORD is needed in the target language, it will still be helpful to indicate that the Hebrew verb here is passive by saying “while I am met by the LORD over there.” Even the greatest of prophets cannot determine precisely when and where the LORD will grant them a revelation, so NBV says “I will wait over there until the LORD comes to me.”
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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.