altar

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The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated as “altar” in English is translated in a number of ways:

  • Obolo: ntook or “raised structure for keeping utensils (esp. sacrifice)” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Muna: medha kaefoampe’a or “offering table” (source: René van den Berg)
  • Luchazi: muytula or “the place where one sets the burden down”/”the place where the life is laid down” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. )
  • Tzotzil: “where they place God’s gifts” (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.)
  • Tsafiki: “table for giving to God” (source: Bruce Moore in Notes on Translation 1/1992, p. 1ff.)
  • Noongar: karla-kooranyi or “sacred fire” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “offering-burning table” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “place for sacrificing” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “burning-place” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tibetan: mchod khri (མཆོད་​ཁྲི།) or “offering throne” (source: gSungrab website )
  • Bura-Pabir: “sacrifice mound” (source: Andy Warrren-Rothlin)
  • Kalanga: “fireplace of sacrifice” (source: project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Cherokee: “fire nurturing place” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 26) (note that the Jewish priest is “fire feeder” in Cherokee
The Ignaciano translators decided to translate the difficult term in that language according to the focus of each New Testament passage in which the word appears (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight

Willis Ott (in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.) explains:

  • Matt. 5:23,24: “When you take your offering to God, and arriving, you remember…, do not offer your gift yet. First go to your brother…Then it is fitting to return and offer your offering to God.” (The focus is on improving relationships with people before attempting to improve a relationship with God, so the means of offering, the altar, is not focal.)
  • Matt. 23:18 (19,20): “You also teach erroneously: ‘If someone makes a promise, swearing by the offering-place/table, he is not guilty if he should break the promise. But if he swears by the gift that he put on the offering-place/table, he will be guilty if he breaks the promise.'”
  • Luke 1:11: “…to the right side of the table where they burn incense.”
  • Luke 11.51. “…the one they killed in front of the temple (or the temple enclosure).” (The focus is on location, with overtones on: “their crime was all the more heinous for killing him there”.)
  • Rom. 11:3: “Lord, they have killed all my fellow prophets that spoke for you. They do not want anyone to give offerings to you in worship.” (The focus is on the people’s rejection of religion, with God as the object of worship.)
  • 1Cor. 9:13 (10:18): “Remember that those that attend the temple have rights to eat the foods that people bring as offerings to God. They have rights to the meat that the people offer.” (The focus is on the right of priests to the offered food.)
  • Heb. 7:13: “This one of whom we are talking is from another clan. No one from that clan was ever a priest.” (The focus in on the legitimacy of this priest’s vocation.)
  • Jas. 2:21: “Remember our ancestor Abraham, when God tested him by asking him to give him his son by death. Abraham was to the point of stabbing/killing his son, thus proving his obedience.” (The focus is on the sacrifice as a demonstration of faith/obedience.)
  • Rev. 6:9 (8:3,5; 9:13; 14:18; 16:7): “I saw the souls of them that…They were under the table that holds God’s fire/coals.” (This keeps the concepts of: furniture, receptacle for keeping fire, and location near God.)
  • Rev. 11:1: “Go to the temple, Measure the building and the inside enclosure (the outside is contrasted in v. 2). Measure the burning place for offered animals. Then count the people who are worshiping there.” (This altar is probably the brazen altar in a temple on earth, since people are worshiping there and since outside this area conquerors are allowed to subjugate for a certain time.)

See also altar (Acts 17:23).


In the Hebraic English translation of Everett Fox it is translated as slaughter-site and likewise in the German translation by Buber / Rosenzweig as Schlachtstatt.

tabernacle (noun)

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “tabernacle” in English is translated in San Blas Kuna as “house of prayer that can be carried.” (Source: Ronald Ross)

In Bandi it is translated as “holy sitting place.” The “sitting place for the Bandi is where you live.” Therefore the tabernacle is the place where God lived. (Source: Becky Grossmann in this newsletter )

In Vidunda it is translated as “God’s tent” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext) and in Tibetan as gur mchog (གུར་​མཆོག) or “perfect tent” (source: gSungrab website )

In American Sign Language it is translated with with a sign for “tent” combined with a sign referring to the outer court surrounding the tent (see Exodus 27:9 and following). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Tabernacle” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

See also tabernacle (verb) / dwell, festival of Tabernacles and ark of the covenant.

complete verse (Numbers 3:26)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 3:26:

  • Kupsabiny: “They also had to take care of the curtains of the fence that surrounded that Tent and the curtain that closed off the gate of the courtyard of the Tent together with the ropes which were used to spread out those curtains.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “the screening cloth of the courtyard, the curtain for the gate to the courtyard, and for the ropes and for all the necessary equipment.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “the curtains of the courtyard surrounding the Tent and the altar, as-well-as the curtain of the entrance of the courtyard, and the ropes/chords. They are responsible of all the work/doings which are related/connected to these things/items.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “the curtains/large pieces of cloth that formed the walls around the courtyard that is around the tent and around the altar, the curtains that were at the entrance of the courtyard, and the ropes for fastening the tent. They also did all the work of taking care of the things outside the Sacred Tent.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Moses

The name that is transliterated as “Moses” in English means “taken out of the water,” “saved out of the water,” “a son.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

It is translated in Spanish Sign Language and Polish Sign Language with a sign in accordance with the depiction of Moses in the famous statue by Michelangelo (see here ). (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


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

American Sign Language also uses the sign depicting the horns but also has a number of alternative signs (see here ).

In French Sign Language, a similar sign is used, but it is interpreted as “radiance” (see below) and it culminates in a sign for “10,” signifying the 10 commandments:


“Moses” in French Sign Language (source )

The horns that are visible in Michelangelo’s statue are based on a passage in the Latin Vulgate translation (and many Catholic Bible translations that were translated through the 1950ies with that version as the source text). Jerome, the translator, had worked from a Hebrew text without the niqquds, the diacritical marks that signify the vowels in Hebrew and had interpreted the term קרו (k-r-n) in Exodus 34:29 as קֶ֫רֶן — keren “horned,” rather than קָרַו — karan “radiance” (describing the radiance of Moses’ head as he descends from Mount Sinai).

In Swiss-German Sign Language (and Hungarian Sign Language) it is translated with a sign depicting holding a staff. This refers to a number of times where Moses’s staff is used in the context of miracles, including the parting of the sea (see Exodus 14:16), striking of the rock for water (see Exodus 17:5 and following), or the battle with Amalek (see Exodus 17:9 and following).


“Moses” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

In Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language it is translated with the sign that depicts the eye make up he would have worn as the adopted son of an Egyptian princess. (Source: The Vietnamese Sign Language translation team, VSLBT)


“Moses” in Vietnamese Sign Language, source: SooSL

In Korean Sign Language it is translated with the sign that depicts the arms held up by Moses to assure the Israelites victory over the Amalekites (see Exodus 17:11).


“Moses” in Korean Sign Language, source: Korean Sign Language Bible House

In Estonian Sign Language Moses is depicted with a big beard. (Source: Liina Paales in Folklore 47, 2011, p. 43ff. )


“Moses” in Estonian Sign Language, source: Glossary of the EKNK Toompea kogudus

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

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Moses .

Translation commentary on Numbers 3:25 - 3:26

And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was to be …: Charge renders the same Hebrew word (mishmeret) translated “duties” in verses 7-8. As there, it refers to duties that had to be done regularly. It may be rendered “duty,” “task,” or “responsibility” (New Revised Standard Version). In this context the sons of Gershon is better rendered “the descendants of Gershon” or simply “the Gershonites” (New International Version). After verses 23-24, most translations continue with the past tense in verses 25-26 as well (so Revised Standard Version with was to be). But the Hebrew lacks a past tense verb, or any verb, for that matter. (King James Version, Russian Synodal Orthodox Version, and Luther translate verses 23-26 with a present or future tense, thus showing more clearly that the text is instructional.) In some languages it may be possible to leave verbs out altogether in order to show that verses 25-26 are part of a list; for example, the beginning of these verses may be rendered “Charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting: the dwelling-place…” (similarly Buber). Perhaps some special indentation on the printed page would also help to distinguish this genre.

In general, the tabernacle is the same as the tent of meeting (see the comments on 1.50). However, in this verse the tabernacle (literally “the dwelling-place”) is not quite the same as the tent of meeting as a whole, but more precisely, the tabernacle is God’s dwelling-place under the tent coverings. Good News Translation refers to the tabernacle as the “inner cover” of the Tent of Meeting, and the tent with its covering as the “outer cover” over it. By not repeating the word tent, Good News Translation avoids the confusion that Revised Standard Version may cause (how many tents?). Contemporary English Version avoids confusion by rendering the tabernacle, the tent with its covering as “the tent itself, along with its outer covering.” So the following coverings are mentioned here: the inner cover (which is the tent itself) as well as the outer cover. But, while the outer covering is referred to as one covering here, this is not the case in 4.25 and Exo 26.7-14.

The screen for the door of the tent of meeting refers to the curtain that covered the entrance to the Tabernacle.

The hangings of the court refers to the curtains that formed a fence around the Tabernacle and its court, that is, its courtyard.

The screen for the door of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar refers to the curtain that covered the entrance to the Tabernacle’s courtyard. Good News Translation says “the curtain for the entrance of the court.” The altar refers to the altar of sacrifice in front of the entrance to the Tabernacle and not to the incense altar inside the Tabernacle. The Hebrew word for altar comes from a verb meaning “to slaughter,” but the noun eventually came to be used of places where any kind of sacrifice was offered to God. In some languages the word altar has to be rendered by a descriptive phrase such as “table where people burn sacrifices to God” or “place where offerings are given to God.”

In some languages it may be appropriate to use the same word for covering, screen, and hangings (so Bijbel in Gewone Taal).

Its cords refers to the ropes that held the Tabernacle’s coverings in place. The ropes were tied to tent pegs driven into the ground (see Exo 35.8; 39.40).

All the service pertaining to these is literally “for all its [the Tabernacle’s] service.” Revised Standard Version‘s fairly literal rendering may be very confusing in most languages, especially coming at the end of such a long and detailed sentence. Good News Translation provides a helpful model with “They were responsible for all the service connected with these items.” Contemporary English Version makes it clear what the service was by saying “The Gershonites were responsible for setting these things up and taking them down.”

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 .