years (age)

In Aekyom, years are counted as “turtles” (ambum).

Norm Mundhenk tells this story:

“Recently I was checking some New Testament material in the Aekyom language of western Papua New Guinea. It seemed relatively clear until suddenly we came to a passage that started, ‘When Jesus had 12 turtles, …’ Surely I had misunderstood what they said.
“‘Did you say that Jesus had 12 turtles?’
“‘Let us explain! Around here there is a certain time every year when river turtles come up on the banks and lay their eggs. Because this is so regular, it can be used as a way of counting years. Someone’s age is said to be how many turtles that person has. So when we say that Jesus had 12 turtles, we mean that Jesus was 12 years old.’
“It was of course the familiar story of Jesus’ trip with his parents to Jerusalem. And certainly, as we all know, Jesus did indeed have 12 turtles at that time!”

In Tok Pisin, krismas (derived from “christmas”) is taken as the fixed annual marker, so Jesus had 12 “christmases” (Jisas i gat 12-pela krismas pinis) or Abram (in Gen. 12:4) had 75 (Abram i gat 75 krismas) (source: Norm Mundhenk). In Noongar it is biroka kadak or “summers had” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

See also advanced in years.

Aaron

The name that is transliterated as “Aaron” in English is translated in Catalan Sign Language and Spanish Sign Language as “stones on chest plate” (according to Exodus 28:15-30) (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


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

In Colombian Sign Language, Honduras Sign Language, and American Sign Language, the chest plate is outlined (in ASL it is outlined using the letter “A”):


“Aaron” in ASL (source )

See also Moses, more information on Aaron , and this lectionary in The Christian Century .

Translation commentary on Numbers 33:38 - 33:39

A more detailed account of the death of Aaron is found in 20.22-29.

And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the LORD …: See 20.27. It may be important in some languages to mark verses 38-39 as a comment that has been inserted into the journey list (travel narrative) by means of a shift in word order (so Good News Translation) or through the use of an appropriate transitional expression, such as “It so happened that…” (Chewa). For Aaron the priest, see the comments on 3.6. At the command of the LORD is literally “upon the mouth of the LORD” (see verse 2 and 3.16).

And died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month: Aaron died along with the entire rebellious generation of Israel. He died in the fortieth year, the last year of their wilderness wandering (see 14.33; 32.13). On the first day of the fifth month is only the second explicit date mentioned in the journey list (after that at the beginning in verse 3), which serves to suggest the importance of Aaron’s death and its timing. The fifth month in the Hebrew calendar corresponds to mid-July to mid-August.

And Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor: According to Exo 7.7, Aaron was 83 years old just before the exodus from Egypt.

New Living Translation provides the following helpful model for verses 38-39:

• 38 While they were at the foot of Mount Hor, Aaron the priest was directed by the LORD to go up the mountain, and there he died. This happened in midsummer, on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year after Israel’s departure from Egypt. 39 Aaron was 123 years old when he died there on Mount Hor.

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 .