village

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “village” or “town” in English is translated in Noongar as karlamaya or “fire (used for “home“) + houses” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

In Elhomwe it is typically translated as “place.” “Here in Malawi, villages very small, so changed to ‘places,’ since not sure whether biblical reference just to small villages or also to bigger towns. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Numbers 32:41)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 32:41:

  • Kupsabiny: “The house of Jair son of Manasseh went and took other villages in Gilead and name them ‘Villages of Jair.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Jair, descendant of Manasseh conquered many villages of Gilead, and gave it the name, Havvoth-jair.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Jair also a descendant of Manase was-able-to-conquer some barrios in Gilead and he named them ‘Baryo/(village) of Jair.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Jair, who was also a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured the small towns in that region, and he named them the Towns of Jair.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 32:41

And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took their villages: The conjunction And is better omitted (Good News Bible) or replaced by a more neutral connector such as “Now” (NET), since this verse does not give the next event after the previous one. Jair the son of Manasseh is better translated “Jair, of the tribe of Manasseh” (Good News Bible) or “The people of Jair, another clan of the tribe of Manasseh” (New Living Translation). Went and took may be rendered “attacked and captured” (Good News Bible; see verse 39). The referent for the pronoun their is not clear. The closest possible referents are “Gilead” (if viewed collectively) in verse 40 and “the Amorites” in verse 39, so their villages refers to “some villages in Gilead” (similarly NIRV) or “some villages of the Amorites.” Good News Bible omits the pronoun, saying “some villages.” Instead of their villages, Levine emends the text to read “the farming villages of Ham” (which has a difference of only one vowel in Hebrew). The land of Ham is mentioned in Gen 14.5, which was in the Transjordan, so it fits this context. Revised English Bible follows this reading by saying “the tent-villages of Ham.” The Hebrew word for villages is more accurately rendered “tent-villages” or “encampments” (New Jerusalem Bible).

And called them Havvoth-jair: Revised Standard Version gives the meaning of Havvoth-jair in a footnote, but Good News Bible puts its meaning in the translation itself, saying “Villages of Jair,” and so does Alter with “Jair’s Hamlets.” These renderings are more helpful, given the first part of the verse.

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 .