burnt-offering

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 Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate 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).

See also offering (qorban).

complete verse (Numbers 28:23)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 28:23:

  • Kupsabiny: “Make these sacrifices together with those that are burned completely in/during each morning.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “During the Festival of Unleavened Bread, this must be offered in addition to the regular morning burnt offering.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) offer these offerings aside from the daily burnt offering every morning.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Bring these offerings in addition to the offerings that you bring each morning.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 28:23

You shall offer these: As in verse 4, the Hebrew verb rendered offer is the more general one meaning “do” or “make,” so a specific verb such as “sacrifice” is not needed here. In some languages such a specific verb might not apply to the non-animal offerings in this context. The demonstrative pronoun these refers to all the offerings mentioned in verses 19-22. It may be helpful to make this more explicit by saying “All of these [offerings]” (Contemporary English Version) or “these offerings” (New Living Translation, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling).

Besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering: See verses 3-4. As there, continual burnt offering is more accurately rendered “regular burnt offering” (New Revised Standard Version).

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 .