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.

Ephraim

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)


“Ephraim” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

For Deborah, see here.

More information about Ephraim and the Tribe of Ephraim .

complete verse (Numbers 26:35)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 26:35:

  • Kupsabiny: “These are the houses of the clan of Ephraim: House of Shuthelah, house of Beker, and house of Tahan.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The descendants of Ephraim according to clan are like this —
    the clan of the Shuthelahites from Shutelah,
    the clan of the Bekerites from Beker,
    the clan of the Tahanites from Tahan,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The descendants of Efraim also were the families of Shutela, Beker, Tahan,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They counted 32,500 men from the tribe of Ephraim, who was Joseph’s other son. They were in clans descended from Shuthelah, Becher, Tahan, and Shuthelah’s son Eran.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.

Translation commentary on Numbers 26:35 - 26:37

This paragraph is about the census of the tribe of Ephraim. It runs parallel to the previous paragraphs in this chapter dealing with the census of other tribes (see the comments on verses 5-7 and 12-14). The clans of Ephraim descended from his sons Shuthelah, Becher and Tahan, and Shuthelah’s son Eran (see 1 Chr 7.20-27).

And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites: Since only one son of Shuthelah is mentioned here, it will be more helpful in some languages to translate the sons of Shuthelah as “the descendants of Shuthelah” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Good News Translation provides a helpful model for this whole sentence by restructuring it as follows: “The clan of Eran traced its descent from Shuthelah.” New Living Translation is even better with “This was the subclan descended from the Shuthelahites: The Eranites, named after their ancestor Eran.”

These are the sons of Joseph according to their families: This clause closes the paragraphs about the descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim. These paragraphs are introduced (verse 28) and closed by a reference to Joseph, their common ancestor. The demonstrative pronoun These points back to all the descendants of Joseph mentioned in verses 28-36. In verse 35 this pronoun points forward to the descendants of Ephraim. In some languages the pronoun These will be rendered differently here than in verse 35 to indicate its precise direction of reference.

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 .