The different Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
complete verse (Zechariah 4:12)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Zechariah 4:12:
- Kupsabiny: “And again, what do the two pipes of gold where the olive oil flows inside mean?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
- Newari: “And again I asked him, "what about the two branches near the two golden pipes that pour out golden olive oil?"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “And what (is) the meaning of those two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that the golden color oil flows?’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- English: “And what isthe meaning of the two olive branches, one alongside each of the gold pipes from which olive oil flows to the lamps?’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
olive
The olive family has over four hundred species in the world. Many of them grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but it is the one in the Bible, the European Olive Olea europaea, that has become famous. It is likely that the olive was domesticated in Egypt or the eastern Mediterranean basin in the third millennium B.C. The botanist Newberry argued that Egypt was its original home. We know from the Bible that olives grew in the hills of Samaria and in the foothills. There is a wild variety, called Olea europaea sylvestris, that is smaller than the domestic one; it produces a smaller fruit with less oil. The Apostle Paul refers to this wild variety in Romans 11:17 and 11:24. Olives are easily propagated by cuttings and by grafting fruitful species into less fruitful ones. They grow best on hillsides where the rain drains off quickly. The fruit forms by August but does not ripen until December or January.
The olive is not a big tree, reaching up to perhaps 10 meters (33 feet), but with pruning it is usually kept to around 5 meters (17 feet) tall. The leaves are grayish green above, and whitish underneath. The bark of young trees is silvery gray but gets darker and rougher as the tree ages. The trunk also gets twisted and hollow and may reach over a meter in thickness. Olives grow for hundreds of years, and some in Israel have possibly reached two thousand years.
The fruit of the olive is about 2 centimeters (1 inch) long and a bit more than a centimeter (1/2 inch) thick. It has a hard stone inside and a soft skin that covers the oily flesh. Today a mature tree may yield 10-20 kilograms (22-44 pounds) of fruit, which, when processed, will yield 1.3-2.6 kilograms (3.6 pounds) of oil.
For the Jews the “big three” trees were the vine, the fig, and the olive. People ate olive fruits, but more importantly, they squeezed the oil from the fruits, and used it for cooking, for lamps, for rubbing on the body, for medicine, and in religion. Jacob poured olive oil on the stone where he saw a vision of angels, declaring it a holy place (Genesis 28:18). Moses, similarly, anointed the Tabernacle and its equipment with olive oil mixed with sweet-smelling resins (Exodus 40:9). Aaron and the priests who served in the Tabernacle were also anointed (Exodus 29:21).
Some types of wild olive grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but are not well-known. The so-called “African olive” produces a black, oil-bearing fruit much like an olive. It is common as a snack in northern Nigeria. The “Chinese olive” is also a species of Canarium and may be a possible cultural substitute, if it produces edible fruit and oil. The “Russian olive” grown in dry regions of the world is a member of the Elaeagnus family and not a true olive. A variety of olive (Olea cuspidate) is used for building in India and Nepal, but it is probably not possible to use it in the Bible except perhaps in a study Bible where you could say that the biblical olive was related to this tree.
Since most of the kinds of olive trees in the world do not have edible fruit, it may not be possible to substitute a local variety. If it is done, however, a footnote would be required saying that the Palestinian kind produced edible fruit and oil. If a variety of Canarium is eaten in your area, you could use the local name for it. Otherwise transliterate from a major language.
Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)
Translation commentary on Zechariah 4:12
And a second time I said to him: It appears that the prophet adds a second question before the angel has an opportunity to answer the first one. Since Zechariah remains the speaker, these introductory words are an interruption in the flow of the speech that may be awkward in some languages. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version omit them and continue straight on with the second question (similarly New Living Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente), and translators may do the same if this would result in a better style in their own language. Most translations, however, keep the quotation formula, which can be expressed as “And I also asked him.” The question that follows raises various problems, both in terms of the words used and in terms of its relation to the description in verses 2-3.
What are these two branches of the olive trees: For What are…? Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version render “what is the meaning of…?” (compare verses 4, 11). The Hebrew word here translated branches elsewhere always has the meaning “grains of wheat growing at the top of the stalk.” Scholars think that here it must mean “the extreme ends of fruit-laden boughs,” so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates it as “the two tops of the olive trees.” Since English has no special term for this particular part of a tree, several translations use a more general term like branches (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) and translators with a similar problem may do the same. These branches have not been mentioned before and we must assume that they are simply prominent boughs, probably one on each tree.
Which are beside the two golden pipes from which the oil is poured out: These pipes have not been mentioned before either, and it is not certain where they were. The most probable interpretation is that they connected the trees to the bowl of verse 2, and supplied olive oil as fuel for the lamps. Of course, oil does not pour from an olive tree in everyday life: the olives have to be gathered and pressed to get the oil. But in a vision such details may be omitted. The tree was the ultimate source of the oil, and that is what the vision shows.
The word translated oil is the normal word for “gold,” and this causes a problem for interpreters. Some commentators assume that the “gold” stands for the color of the oil by a figure of speech called metonymy. Others assume that some words have been lost from the Hebrew, and that there was originally a reference to the golden bowl of verse 2. Others have suggested that the Hebrew word, though the same word for gold, is actually from a different root, and means “oil.” Whatever the truth may be, English versions generally render it as oil (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Good News Translation), “golden oil” (New English Bible/ Revised English Bible, New International Version, New Living Translation, Bible en français courant), or even “golden olive oil” (Contemporary English Version), and this is what we recommend that other translators should do. Contemporary English Version offers a helpful model for this verse:
• And what is the meaning of the two branches from which golden olive oil flows through the two gold pipes?
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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