sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation). Likewise, in Toposa all the different bodies of water are all called by one term as well: nya-name̥ (source: Schröder 2026, p. 101).

In Malagasy culture, the sea is perceived as sacred because it was a path taken by the ancestors. That is why the Malagasy word for the “sea” is ranomasina, which literally means “the sacred water.” The word masina actually has two different meanings: “salted” and “sacred/holy.” Salt is used for the conservation of some foods, such as meat or fish, that are to be set aside for later use. In this sense, the Malagasy phrase for “Holy Spirit” has the literal meaning of “Salted Spirit.” (Source: Brigitte Rabarijaona in The Bible Translator 2022, p. 103ff.)

“Sea” (or: “ocean”) is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “water land” and in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac as “very big lake.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

Translation commentary on Sirach 24:29

For her thought is more abundant than the sea, and her counsel deeper than the great abyss: More abundant (Good News Translation “vaster”) and deeper (Good News Translation “more profound”) translate one verb, which is in the first line of the Greek text. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation are choosing adjectives appropriate for sea on the one hand and for great abyss on the other. The sea (Good News Translation “ocean”) is pictured as vast; the great abyss (Good News Translation “deepest waters beneath the earth”; see the comments on verse 5) is portrayed as deep. Good News Translation‘s translation of this verse is imaginative. Her thought is expressed as “The possibilities of Wisdom” which are open only to the wise; her counsel is interpreted as that from which a wise person may draw, that to which a wise person has access, in solving life’s problems: “her resources.” The wise person has a wide ocean of possibilities that other people do not have, and Wisdom’s counsel offers an ocean depth of resources, advice, and experience to draw from. Here is a more practical model than Good News Translation for this verse:

• There is no limit to Wisdom’s insight; it is as wide as the ocean. There is no limit to what Wisdom can teach us; it is as deep as the deepest waters beneath the earth.

The imagery of water in this verse connects this section with the following section.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Sirach. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.