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 32:42)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 32:42:

  • Kupsabiny: “And Nobah, he went and took the city of Kenath and its villages. He name that city Nobah after his own name.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Nobah, of his tribe, conquered Kenath and its villages and re-named [lit.: put] it in his name, Nobah.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Noba conquered Kenat and the baryo’s around it and he called it ‘Noba’ according to his name.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “A man named Nobah went and captured Kenath city and the nearby towns, and then he put his own name to be the new name of that area.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 32:42

And Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages: Again, the conjunction And is better omitted (Good News Bible) or replaced by a non-chronological connector such as “Meanwhile” (New Living Translation). Nobah was another member of the tribe of Manasseh, not otherwise identified. Went and took may be rendered “attacked and captured” (Good News Bible), as in verse 41. Kenath and its villages is literally “Kenath and its daughters,” which uses the imagery of a large city as a mother and its nearby settlements as daughters (see 21.25). The Hebrew word for villages differs from the one used in verse 41.

And called it Nobah, after his own name: Nobah renamed the city after himself (see Jdg 8.11, where the same city may be in view). The original name Kenath reappears in 1 Chr 2.23.

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 .