garden

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated into English as “garden” is translated into Naskapi with a word that means “a place for things to grow.”

Doug Lockhart (in Word Alive 2013 ) explains: “‘Garden’ was another term that had no Naskapi equivalent. ‘There are no gardens here,’ Bill [Jancewicz, a translation consultant] explains. ‘So what word do you use for ‘Garden of Eden,’ and have it communicate something logical in Naskapi? We finally came up with a word that means ‘a place for things to grow,’ like a park.'”

See also gardener.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Eden .

Translation commentary on Susanna 1:7

If integrated into the book of Daniel: 13.7.

When the people departed at noon: Good News Translation is misleading with “when all the people left for lunch,” since it implies a temporary break in the day’s proceedings. But the text does not say that anyone returns the same day. Rather, we would assume from verse 28 that these proceedings ended at midday. Thus Contemporary English Version has “Each day, the people left the house at noon.”

Susanna would go into her husband’s garden to walk: This is another customary action. The Greek says her husband’s garden. Technically, by the law and customs of that day and time, the gardens probably were his and not hers or even theirs. Verse 4 already notes his ownership. Identifying them as her husband’s at this point may serve only to raise unintended and distracting questions, so Good News Translation says simply “the gardens.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.