The Hebrew that is translated as “fine leather” or “badger/porpoise skin” in English is translated in Kutu as ng’hwembe ya mhala or “skins of bushbuck” (for bushbuck, see here ). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In Yao, it is translated as “soft leather of a big sea animal” (source: UBS, project-specific translation notes in Paratext), in Newari as “dolphin skin” (source: Newari Back Translation), in Kupsabiny as “hides of a hippo” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation), and in Opo as “soft skins” (source: Opo Back Translation).
The English Jewish Orthodox ArtScroll Tanach translation (publ. 2011) transliterates it as tachash-hide. (Source: Zetzsche)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated with “clothes” or similar in English is translated in Enlhet as “crawling-in-stuff” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. ) and in Noongar as bwoka or “Kangaroo skin” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
This animal is only mentioned in Scripture with regard to the leather made from its skin. It is clear that its hide made very good leather. The King James Version’s “badger” and Revised Standard Version’s “goat” are almost certainly mistranslations. New English Bible’s “porpoise” has more support since an Arabic word very similar to the Hebrew refers to the porpoise or dolphin. However catching sufficient porpoises to make a covering for the tabernacle would have been problematic for the Israelites since these animals live entirely in the sea while the Israelites were not a seagoing nation.
However, some local Bedouin tribes that live near the sea have for centuries made sandals and other articles from the skins of an animal called dugong and many modern scholars interpret tachash as referring to this animal. New International Version and New English Bible (margin) have “sea cow”. The dugong, which swims slowly and feeds on underwater weeds near the shore, is fairly easy to catch in nets.
The Dugong (Dugong dugong) is a large animal about 3 meters (10 feet) long, which lives in the sea, usually in small herds of twelve to fifteen animals. They swim slowly and feed in fairly shallow water on underwater weeds near mouths of rivers. They sometimes even move a short distance up the river. They need to come to the surface every few minutes to breathe, and they sometimes come out of the water to lie on rocks or sandbanks.
Although they have flippers rather than legs and a tail that looks like that of a large fish dugongs are mammals. They have soft fur. They do not lay eggs but give birth to babies and feed them on milk from their breasts. They are found in fairly large numbers even today in the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea and are also found along the tropical coasts of East Africa, South Asia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia and the Solomon Islands. They have also been reported in Taiwan.
Dugongs are distantly related to seals. They are pale gray in color and the male has small tusks in its upper jaw. They are harmless and unsuspicious animals and are easy to catch. Dugong skins are fairly thick soft and long-wearing and make high quality leather. The fur is usually left on the leather.
Three very similar animals are the Senegal Manatee Trichechus senegalensis, which is found in West Africa, the Caribbean Manatee Trichechus manatus, which is found on the coasts and in the lagoons of the Caribbean islands and Florida, and the South American Manatee Trichechus inunguis, which is found in the Amazon and Orinoco rivers.
Where dugongs and manatees are known, the best choice will be the word for one of the three mentioned in the previous paragraph. In areas where they are not known, the word for the seal can be used. Where seals are also not known, a more general expression such as “good soft leather” or “furs” is better than trying to name the animal. It is the skin rather than the animal that is in focus in all cases.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 4:8:
Kupsabiny: “All those things must be covered with a red cloth, (then) cover it with the softened skin of hippo and enter the poles used to carry that table.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Then, having spread out a red cloth on top of it, they must cover it with dolphin skin, and the carrying poles must be put in place.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Afterward they will-cover this with a red cloth, and still/as-well cover with a good/fine kind of leather and then insert the poles which are-used-for-carrying it.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Over all of this they must spread a scarlet/red cloth. Finally, they must put on top a nice covering made from the skins of goats. Then they must insert into the rings at the corners of the tables the poles for carrying it.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet: The pronoun them refers to the table with its sacred bread and all the other items on it. The Hebrew expression for a cloth of scarlet refers to crimson-red material. The dye for this color came from the larvae of an insect found on oak trees. The Hebrew uses two words to refer to the color scarlet, which is literally “worm-scarlet.” This color was a deep, rich red, like “crimson” (New Revised Standard Version). Contemporary English Version says “bright red,” which helps to express that the color was special.
And cover the same with a covering of goatskin: On top of the bright red cloth they had to put a fine leather covering. For the Hebrew expression rendered goatskin, which refers to “fine leather” (Good News Translation), see verse 6.
And shall put in its poles: Like the sacred chest, the table for the sacred bread had rings on its sides through which poles were placed to carry it (see Exo 25.26-28; 37.13-15). Good News Translation renders poles as “carrying poles” to express more clearly that they were used to carry the table. Bible en français courant says “poles serving to carry the table.”
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 .
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