chariot

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated into English as “chariot” is translated into Anuak as “canoe pulled by horse.” “Canoe” is the general term for “vehicle” (source: Loren Bliese). Similarly it is translated in Lokạạ as ukwaa wạ nyanyang ntuuli or “canoe that is driven by horses.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

In Eastern Highland Otomi it’s translated as “cart pulled by horses” (source: Larson 1998, p. 98) and in Chichicapan Zapotec as “ox cart” (in Acts 8). Ox carts are common vehicles for travel. (Source: Loren Bliese)

In Chichimeca-Jonaz, it is translated as “little house with two feet pulled by two horses” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.) and in the Hausa Common Language Ajami Bible as keken-doki or “cart of donkey” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

It is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:

Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

See also cart.

Translation commentary on Zechariah 6:1

And again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold: Compare with 1.18; 2.1; 5.1, and see the comments on 1.18.

Four chariots came out: The number four suggests the four main points of the compass, that is to say, it stands for completeness. Compare the four horns and four smiths in the second vision (1.18-21) and the four winds in the third (2.6). People normally used chariots for military rather than civil purposes and their appearance here suggests some aggressive intention. No drivers are mentioned, but if necessary, translators may assume that each chariot had a driver (see the notes on Hag 2.22). In some languages it may be helpful to state the number of horses pulling each chariot, normally two (see the discussion on the next verse). A possible model, then, is the following: “I saw four chariots, each pulled by two horses, coming.”

From between two mountains: As in the case of the first vision, some scholars have suggested that the setting is to be found somewhere near Jerusalem, so that the two mountains may be Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives. However, in a vision we do not necessarily expect to find exact geographical descriptions and translators should not try to identify the mountains. Other scholars have linked the two mountains with traditional pictures of the entrance to heaven in Babylonian mythology. This may be true, but it is better not to express it in the translation as Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has done. (Compare the comments on the “myrtle trees” in 1.8.)

The mountains were mountains of bronze: This description suggests that they are not meant to be identified with any particular mountains in the Jerusalem area. On the other hand, it may support the idea that the vision draws on popular mythology. In Hebrew this statement forms a separate clause, but if it is translated as a separate clause in other languages, it may become too prominent. The fact that the mountains are of bronze is a background detail that is not mentioned again. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have therefore incorporated this clause into the previous one, and say simply “from between two bronze mountains” (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). This may be the best approach in some other languages also.

The Hebrew word translated bronze in Revised Standard Version is “brass” in King James Version and Revised Version, and “copper” in New English Bible/ Revised English Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh. In languages that do not have many words for different metals, this may be a problem. Translators should remember that it is not the exact composition of the metal that is in focus, but the fact that the mountains were not just ordinary mountains. If suitable terms for “bronze” or “copper” are not available, a general term like “made of metal” would be adequate.

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 .