19Moreover, I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to do the service for the Israelites at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the Israelites, in order that there may be no plague among the Israelites for coming too close to the sanctuary.”
The Greek and Hebrew that is usually translated in English as “atonement” is translated in Luchazi with minina mata: “to swallow another’s spittle.” “The human bite [is traditionally thought of] as being the most poisonous and dangerous and the poison lies in the saliva. So in swallowing another’s spittle, one takes into oneself all the poison or evil of the other and thus actually ‘becomes sin’ on behalf of the other. The substitute then proceeds to deal with the case as though he were the guilty one.” (Source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. )
The Hebrew that is translated in English as “tent of meeting” is translated in the Ancient GreekSeptuagint translation as σκηνῇ τοῦ μαρτυρίου or “tent of witness/testimony,” the same term that is also used in Acts 7:44.
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is transliterated “Levites” in English (only the Contemporary English Version translates it as “temple helpers”) is translated in Ojitlán Chinantec as “temple caretakers,” Yatzachi Zapotec as “people born in the family line of Levi, people whose responsibility it was to do the work in the important church of the Israelites,” in Alekano as “servants in the sacrifice house from Jerusalem place,” and in Tenango Otomi as “helpers of priests.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
In American Sign Language with a sign that combines “temple” + “servant.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Levite” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “sanctuary” in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) with opatulika or “separated place.” This is understood in a religious setup as a place designated for worship. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 8:19:
Kupsabiny: “I took the clan of Levi and I gave them to Aaron and his sons so that they can do the work in my Tent for the Israelites and make sacrifices for sweeping away sin. In this way they shall prevent the people of Israel from disaster which might befall them if they come near my Tent.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “And of all the Israelites, I have chosen the Levites for Aaron and his sons. They will serve in the Tent of Meeting for the Israelites and make sacrifices to make atonements for the people so no plague will strike them when they approach the Holy Area."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Of all the Israelinhon, the descendants of Levi are the ones- I -have-chosen to help Aaron and his children. They will-serve at the Meeting-Together-Place Tent for the Israelinhon, and they will-do the ceremonies in-order that the Israelinhon will-be-forgiven/redeemed of their sins, so-that when they go-near the Meeting-Together-Place Tent no disaster/destruction will-come to them.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “I have appointed the descendants of Levi to help Aaron and his sons at the Sacred Tent, as Aaron and his sons offer the sacrifices so that the Israeli people’s sins will be forgiven, and to prevent the Israelis from coming close to the tent with the result that a plague would cause many of them to become sick and die.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel: See the comments on 3.9. Verse 16 says the Levites were given to the LORD, and now he gives them to the priests to serve their fellow Israelites. The substitutionary nature of the Levites’ service is highlighted in this verse. The Hebrew verb form rendered have given is the same as for the verb translated “have taken” in verse 18. So we recommend using the past tense verb “gave” (Bijbel: Vertaling in opdracht van het Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap, Luther) in this context. As a gift is literally “given ones.” Compare Bijbel: Vertaling in opdracht van het Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap with “as ones that have been given.” A literal rendering of I have given … as a gift may sound redundant in some languages. Good News Translation avoids the redundancy by saying “I assign … as a gift,” and so does Chewa with “I offer/hand over … as a gift.” In other languages the repetition of the verb for “give” in Hebrew may serve its emphatic function, as in the original text. In any case, the style of the translation should not detract from its content.
To do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting: For to do the service, see verse 11 and 7.5; for the tent of meeting, see 1.1.
And to make atonement for the people of Israel: For the Hebrew verb rendered make atonement, see verse 12. Good News Translation uses the verb “protect,” which reminds us that the Levites were in their very persons a protective buffer around the Tabernacle, so that the Israelites would not get too close to it (see 1.53). However, instead of “to protect the Israelites” (Good News Translation), a better model is “to serve as redemption for the Israelites” (Levine, page 270), which expresses the ritual significance of the Hebrew verb here. Just as the bulls provided atonement for the Levites in verse 12, so the Levites provided atonement for the Israelites. The Levites, unlike the priests, did not perform the ritual of atonement; rather, atonement was performed with them (so Milgrom, page 369). A helpful model for this interpretation is given in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (see below). According to a different interpretation, the Levites themselves were the agents of this ritual act; for example, New Living Translation renders this clause as “and make sacrifices to purify the people.” However, the Hebrew does not mention sacrifices here. Bible en français courant provides a more helpful model for this interpretation (see below).
That there may be no plague among the people of Israel in case the people of Israel should come near the sanctuary: The Levites were like a protective hedge for the community at large in relation to the Tabernacle (see 1.53). The Hebrew word for plague refers to some type of destructive blow, but it is not clear what it is here, so translators should use a general term to render it; for example, Good News Translation has “disaster.” For the Hebrew word rendered sanctuary (qodesh), see the comments on 3.28. Good News Translation says “Holy Place,” which is a good model.
There are two possible interpretations for the last half of this verse. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch expresses one possibility as follows:
• They have to perform the service in the holy tent and thus keep the other Israelites from the harm that would hit them if they would come too close to the holy place.
Bible en français courant expresses the other possible interpretation as follows:
• They will perform their ministry for the service of the other Israelites in the tent of meeting and will thus obtain pardon in their favor; in this way I will not have to act against those who come too close to the sanctuary.
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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