sackcloth

The Hebrew or Greek which are translated into English as “sackcloth” are rendered into Chamula Tzotzil as “sad-heart clothes.” (Source: Robert Bascom)

Pohnpeian and Chuukese translate it as “clothing-of sadness,” Eastern Highland Otomi uses “clothing that hurts,” Central Mazahua “that which is scratchy,” Tae’ and Zarma “rags” (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel), and Tangale as “torn clothes that show contrition on the body” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin). In the English translation by Goldingay (2018), “put on sackcloth” is translated as wrap on sack.

“In Turkana, a woman removes her normal everyday skin clothes and ornaments and wears rather poor skins during the time of mourning. The whole custom is known as ngiboro. It is very difficult to translate putting on sackcloth because even material like sacking is unfamiliar. The Haya, on the other hand, have a mourning cloth made out of the bark of a tree; and the use of this cloth is similar to the Jewish use of sackcloth. It was found that in both the Turkana and Ruhaya common language translations, their traditional mourning ceremonies were used.” (Source: Rachel Konyoro in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 221ff. )

Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing what a sackcloth looked like in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also mourning clothes and you have loosed my sackcloth.

Translation commentary on Sirach 40:3 - 40:5

The Handbook suggests combining these verses, so that a new sentence may begin with verse 5ab, followed by verses 3-4. This rearrangement is not absolutely necessary, but many readers may find it easier to follow, and we strongly recommend it. (Note that our arrangement of the material is not the same as in Good News Translation.) We will begin with the first two lines of verse 5.

There is anger and envy and trouble and unrest, and fear of death, and fury and strife (verse 5ab): This list of human woes may be approached by saying “We all face anger, jealousy, and trouble. Things disturb us. We live with furious conflicts and the fear of death” or “We all get angry, jealous, and troubled. Things….”

From the man who sits on a splendid throne to the one who is humbled in dust and ashes, from the man who wears purple and a crown to the one who is clothed in burlap (verses 3-4): This is expressed well in Good News Translation, which combines these two verses. The following model adjusts Good News Translation slightly: “all of us from the king sitting on his splendid throne wearing his royal robes and his crown, to the humblest person dressed in burlap and living in poverty.” Good News Translation translates in dust and ashes as “living in poverty.” However, it is also possible to interpret in dust and ashes literally; for example, it may be rendered “sitting in dirt and grime.” This makes a nice contrast with “the king sitting on his splendid throne.” Wearing purple clothes was a sign of distinction (see Jdg 8.26; Est 8.15; 1 Macc 8.14). Burlap is a coarse cloth; only the poorest people would wear it for clothing.

And when one rests upon his bed, his sleep at night confuses his mind (verse 5cd): Confuses his mind is literally “changes his knowledge.” These two lines seem to mean that we get no relief from our fears even at night, because we simply dream up a distorted picture of things. This is captured somewhat by New English Bible, which reads “Even when he goes to bed at night, sleep only brings to mind the same things in a new form.” Another possible rendering is “Even when we go to bed, we dream the same fears in a distorted form.”

An alternative model for verses 3-5 is:

• We all get angry, jealous, and troubled. Things disturb us. We live with furious conflicts and the fear of death— all of us from the king sitting on his splendid throne, wearing his royal robes and his crown, to the poorest person sitting in dirt and grime, and dressed in rags. Even when we go to bed, we dream the same fears in a distorted form.

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.