cattle, livestock

The Hebrew that is translated in English as “livestock” (or “cattle”) is translated in Newari as “living beings brought up in a house” or “living beings cared for in a house” (source: Newari Back Translation). Specifically “cattle” is “cows and oxen.”

In Kwere it is “animals that are being kept.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Numbers 31:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 31:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “The people of Israel took/caught the women of those Midianites and the children. They plundered cows and all other animals and all the things that those people had.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and plundered all their cows, oxen, sheep, female goats and all their wealth.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The taken-as-captives the Midianhon women and children, and they took-away their animals and properties.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They captured all the women and children of the Midian people-group and took away their cattle, their flocks of sheep, and herds of goats, and all their other possessions.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 31:9

And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones: In this context the people of Israel is more accurately rendered “the soldiers of Israel” or “the Israelite army” (New Living Translation). They did not kill all the Midianites (compare 21.3), but took the women and children as captives. Took captive may be translated “grabbed [alive]” (Chewa). For little ones, see 14.3. The Israelite commanders seem to have followed the war regulations in Deut 20.13-14, which dictates that in a holy war, the Israelites must kill all adult males but can take the women, children, domestic animals, and everything else as booty.

And they took as booty all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods: The pronoun they refers to the Israelite soldiers, and the pronoun their to the Midianites. The Hebrew verb rendered took as booty is regularly used in association with warfare. It involves taking away the belongings of the enemy force as a result of a military victory. Different verbs may be needed in translation with reference to the livestock on the one hand and the inanimate goods on the other; for example, Good News Translation uses the verbs “took” and “plundered.” Cattle renders the Hebrew term behemah, which can refer to all animals, but here it refers to domestic animals of all types. The Hebrew term for flocks is miqneh, which is translated “cattle” in 20.19 (see the comments there). This is another general term for domestic animals and includes all types of herded animals, including cows, donkeys, camels, sheep and goats. In some languages it may be helpful to render cattle and flocks simply as “livestock.” The Hebrew word for goods is literally “wealth” (Good News Translation), referring to material possessions.

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 .