years (age)

In Aekyom, years are counted as “turtles” (ambum).

Norm Mundhenk tells this story:

“Recently I was checking some New Testament material in the Aekyom language of western Papua New Guinea. It seemed relatively clear until suddenly we came to a passage that started, ‘When Jesus had 12 turtles, …’ Surely I had misunderstood what they said.
“‘Did you say that Jesus had 12 turtles?’
“‘Let us explain! Around here there is a certain time every year when river turtles come up on the banks and lay their eggs. Because this is so regular, it can be used as a way of counting years. Someone’s age is said to be how many turtles that person has. So when we say that Jesus had 12 turtles, we mean that Jesus was 12 years old.’
“It was of course the familiar story of Jesus’ trip with his parents to Jerusalem. And certainly, as we all know, Jesus did indeed have 12 turtles at that time!”

In Tok Pisin, krismas (derived from “christmas”) is taken as the fixed annual marker, so Jesus had 12 “christmases” (Jisas i gat 12-pela krismas pinis) or Abram (in Gen. 12:4) had 75 (Abram i gat 75 krismas) (source: Norm Mundhenk). In Noongar it is biroka kadak or “summers had” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

See also advanced in years.

Translation commentary on Wisdom 4:8

For old age is not honored for length of time, nor measured by number of years: The idea that the writer expresses in verses 8-9 is that a righteous person who dies before reaching old age really deserves the honor given to old age. This is on the grounds that we honor age, not because a person has lived a long time, but because we assume that a person grows wiser with age. The idea is expressed in an unexpected way, however; the author says that the righteous person who dies young has really reached old age, because old age is determined not by how long people live but only by their wisdom. Contemporary English Version captures the meaning with “True respect isn’t gained merely by growing old.” We may also place verse 8 in parentheses: “(We show respect for old people, but not just because they have lived so long).” See the model below. The connector For may be omitted as in Good News Translation and the model below.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Wisdom of Solomon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2004. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.