jackdaw

There is no consensus among scholars about the bird this word refers to. The word occurs five times, and from the contexts it can be stated with some certainty that

a. it is an unclean bird (that is, it is not a seed eater)
b. it is associated with the Judean Desert
c. it is associated with ruin

An additional feature, which has largely been overlooked, is that in four of the five verses the discourse structure indicates that it was paired in the biblical writers’ minds with the raven. This would indicate that this bird is probably a carrion eater or scavenger and possibly black.

These contexts would rule out the interpretation “pelican”. Psalm 102:6 could possibly be construed as referring to the great distress a pelican would suffer in the desert. However, this argument is weakened by the fact that it would be almost nonsensical in Isaiah 34:11 to indicate that Edom will become a place of hot springs and desolation by saying that it will be “a dwelling place of pelicans”. The White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus, which is the pelican seen most often in the land of Israel, lives in large rivers, lakes, lagoons, and oceans. They are passing migrants in Israel, staying only a few weeks in autumn. They stop briefly in the Huleh and Eilat areas, as they move from the Black Sea, the Danube Delta, and the Caspian Sea to Africa. No place in the whole of the Middle East could be called a “dwelling place of pelicans”. To do so would be to indicate that the place has become a wetland or full of suitable lakes well-stocked with fish.

Some sort of owl seems more likely, and most modern English translations follow Driver’s suggestion in this regard. New English Bible and Revised English Bible have “horned owl”. This is not a species of owl but a much broader classification referring to a family of owls that have prominent ear tufts. New International Version and New American Bible have an even more general term, “desert owl”. There is no such family or species of owl, and the phrase simply means an owl found in the desert.

However, another interesting suggestion has been the jackdaw. Besides fitting all of the contexts, it also makes a fitting pairing with the raven in Leviticus 11:18; Deuteronomy 14:17; Isaiah 34:11; and Zephaniah 2:14. In the latter two passages the birds mentioned would be the jackdaw, two types of owl, and the raven, making a typical Hebrew correspondence between opening and closing items, and between the two middle items. In modern Hebrew the jackdaw is called qa’ak, which might be a slightly modified form of the biblical qa’ath. All scholars are agreed that the name relates to the sound the bird makes, and this would certainly be a good representation of the sound made by the jackdaw.

Since the pelican is unlikely as the proper translation of this name, it will not be described here. Descriptions of owls indigenous to Israel can be found under owl.

The Jackdaw Corvus monedula is a member of the same family as ravens and crows but is smaller. It is black all over.

This bird is a symbol of uncleanness, desolation, and possibly death.

Jackdaws are found in the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe. A word for a small type of crow would be the best choice in most other places. Even a phrase such as “small crows and big crows” could be used for jackdaws and ravens.

If an owl is accepted as the meaning of qa’ath then a general word for owl is a better choice than any one subspecies of owl. However, care should be taken not to introduce an association with witchcraft, since this was not the case in the original Hebrew.

Jackdaw, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

gentiles / nations

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).

Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).

In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also nations.

complete verse (Zephaniah 2:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Zephaniah 2:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “It shall become an open area where animals will be grazing. Also different kinds of owls will live there. The owls will be standing on the pillars/posts of those deserted homes and make faint noises from a window. Walls shall fall down closing/covering the entrances of the deserted homes. Houses shall fall so the cedars that were used to build them are left bare.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “That place will be a pasture for flocks
    and herds and all other kinds of animals,
    the desert owl and the screech owl
    will nest on the pillars there.
    Their hooting will echo through the windows,
    Rubble will block all the doorways.
    all the cedar woodwork will be exposed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The cows, goats, and the other different animals will-lay-down-with-legs-bent-underneath there. The owls will-roost/land on the ruined pillars, and their sound will-be-heard in the windows. The doors will-be-ruined and its cedar woods will-be-detached.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

cedar

Long ago the majestic cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) completely covered the upper slopes of the Lebanon Mountains on the western and northern sides. Now only a few pockets of these mighty cedars remain. At that time they were mixed, as they are today, with other trees such as Cilician fir, Grecian juniper, cypress, and Calabrian pine.

We know from 1 Kings that Solomon used cedar wood in his palace and in the Temple. Cedar was used for beams, boards, pillars, and ceilings. Historians tell us that the Assyrians also hauled cedars to their land for use in buildings. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon also imported cedars from Lebanon. In some versions of Isaiah we read that people made idols of cedar and oak (44:14-20). Finally, when the Temple was rebuilt by the returning exiles (Ezra 3:7), they again cut down cedar trees to grace the house of God.

In 2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles and Ezra, when Lebanon is specifically mentioned, there can be no doubt that ’erez is Cedrus libani, the “cedar of Lebanon,” although it is possible that sometimes the word was used loosely to include various evergreen trees.

In the description of the purification rituals (Leviticus 14:4 at al.), the word ’erez probably refers to the Phoenician juniper tree, since that was the only cedar-like tree in the Sinai Desert.

Description  Cedar trees can reach 30 meters (100 feet) high with a trunk more than 2 meters (7 feet) in diameter. The leaves of true cedars are not flat like those of most trees, but consist of tufts of dark green, shiny spines. (The cedars in North America have a flatter type of spine than the biblical cedar.) The wood is fragrant and resistant to insects. Cedars bear cones and can live to be two or three thousand years old.

The cedar of Lebanon is famous for its large size (see Isaiah 2:13 et al.), and for the fragrance of its wood. Psalm 92:12 links the cedar to righteousness, that is, presumably, to its straightness and height above other trees. The cedar is the national emblem of Lebanon.

Cedrus species are found in the mountains of North Africa, in the Himalayas, in India, and in North America. Translators in these places, should, of course, use the local name in nonfigurative references. In sub Saharan Africa, translators can transliterate from Hebrew (’erez), Greek (kedar), English (sedar), or another major language, or they can take a generic solution such as “large, beautiful tree.” In poetic passages (wisdom literature and prophecy), some translators may wish to use a cultural equivalent with these traits. In Africa, according to Burkhill (The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa, volume 4. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, 1985), the Pink Mahogany Guarea cedrata is also called the pink African cedar because of the cedar-like scent of its timber. Likewise, some people in India and Australia use “cedar” to refer to the toon because of its reddish wood. I do not recommend such substitutes in historical passages, since the ’erez is not related to these trees. In some figurative passages, however, the substitution could be effective, since all are large trees with reddish wood. However, each passage has to be evaluated to determine the intended effect of the image.

Cedar of Lebanon, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

Translation commentary on Zephaniah 2:14

This verse describes in detail the condition of Nineveh after its fall. It is similar in theme to the descriptions of Ashkelon in verse 7, and of Moab and Ammon in verse 9. There are several textual problems in the verse, and some of the Hebrew words used are of uncertain meaning.

The first clause is relatively simple: Herds shall lie down in the midst of her. The Hebrew word which is translated herds refers to a group of domestic animals of any kind, whether cattle, sheep, or goats, or a mixture of these. The English word herds applies mainly to cattle, and the normal collective term in English for sheep and goats is “flocks” (compare Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible). So in order to include both types of animal, Good News Translation uses both the term “flocks” and the term “herds” (compare New International Version).

All the beasts of the field: the Hebrew text actually says “all the beasts of the nations,” as in King James Version and Revised Version, and Revised Standard Version is here following the Aramaic translation, called the Targum (compare New English Bible), rather than the Hebrew. It is possible that the Hebrew text originally contained a form gayʾ rather than the form goy, which is in our present Hebrew texts. The form gayʾ means “valley” and is the term assumed to be correct by the translators of New American Bible (“hollows”) and Jerusalem Bible (“valley”).

Even if the Hebrew goy is correct and carries the meaning “nations,” what does the expression “all the beasts of the nations” mean? Hebrew Old Testament Text Project suggests “all the beasts living in flocks (or, herds),” but this meaning is not found in any major translation. Many scholars believe that “nations” is used here in the sense of “species,” as in Proverbs 30.25, and that the whole phrase means “all beasts of every kind” (Lehrman), or as Good News Translation expresses it, “animals of every kind” (compare Deissler, Moffatt, Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant). This makes perfectly acceptable sense in the context, and translators are recommended to follow it.

The vulture and the hedgehog shall lodge in her capitals: in this setting capitals are the top parts of the columns which supported the roofs of the fine buildings of Nineveh. The prophet is here assuming that the buildings are destroyed and the columns thrown to the ground so that various creatures could lodge among them, or take shelter during the night. Good News Translation translates capitals by the more general term “ruins.”

The main problem here is that the names of the creatures mentioned are very uncertain in meaning. The first term is qaʾath, which is translated vulture (Revised Standard Version), “cormorant” (King James Version), “pelican” (Revised Version, Jerusalem Bible), “jackdaw” (Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible), “screech owl” (New American Bible), “horned owl” (New English Bible), and “desert owl” (New International Version). All that can be said for certain is that the qaʾath is found in a list of unclean birds in Leviticus 11.18 and Deuteronomy 14.17. It is also mentioned as inhabiting deserted places in Psalm 102.6 and Isaiah 34.11. This seems to make it unlikely that a water bird like the cormorant or pelican is intended, or a scavenger like the vulture. On the whole, some kind of owl seems to fit the context best, and if a receptor language has a general word for owl, it will be good to use that rather than give a more exact term that denotes a particular species of owl. If owls do not exist in a particular culture, one may refer to some kind of predatory night bird which gives a hooting or screeching sound.

The second uncertain word is qippod, which is translated hedgehog (Revised Standard Version, Bible de Jérusalem), “bittern” (King James Version), “heron” (Jerusalem Bible), “porcupine” (Revised Version), “desert owl” (New American Bible), “ruffed bustard” (Revised English Bible), “screech owl” (New International Version), and “owl” (New Jerusalem Bible). The word also occurs in Isaiah 14.23, but its context there does not give much help in identifying the creature intended. The ancient translations support the interpretation of qippod as hedgehog or porcupine, but this meaning does not seem to fit the context of Zephaniah 2.14 very well. Also, as with qaʾath, it seems unlikely that a water bird is intended, and again some kind of owl seems to be the most probable creature. Good News Translation accepts this understanding and translates both qaʾath and qippod by the single generic term “owls.” In English this fits well, as English speakers readily associate owls with ruined or deserted buildings. If some other bird has a similar association in other languages, it may be best to use the name of that bird. The translator must always remember that, in a passage like this, the prophet is writing poetically to create an impression of ruin and desolation. He is not writing a scientific account of the wild life of a ruined city, and if we translate this passage as if it were a scientific text book, we are mistranslating it. The effect of this can be seen for instance in the New English Bible rendering “ruffed bustard.” This may perhaps be a correct identification of the creature intended, but most English speakers have never heard of such a bird. Its name means nothing to them and has no emotional impact, except perhaps amusement. This is not what Zephaniah intended.

In the third sentence of the verse, Revised Standard Version has the owl shall hoot in the window, the raven croak on the threshold. The problems here are the words underlying owl and raven. In the first case the Hebrew has the word qol, which means “voice” (King James Version, Revised Version). Revised Standard Version has accepted a suggestion to emend the text to say instead kos, which means owl. Moffatt, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible do the same. This fits the context but is hardly necessary, since the word “voice” applied to the call of the birds mentioned in the previous sentence makes perfectly good sense. This can be seen in New American Bible‘s “Their call shall resound from the window,” and New International Version‘s “Their calls will echo through the windows” (compare Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). Good News Translation follows this interpretation but combines the first part of this sentence with the previous sentence and says “Owls will live among its ruins and hoot from the windows.” The word hoot in English is used especially of the cry an owl makes, and if translators have a term in their own languages which is closely linked with the birds named in the earlier part of the verse, it will be good to use it here (see comments on the translation of “owl” above).

The second bird in the sentence is called the raven in Revised Standard Version. The Hebrew text actually has the word choreb, which means “desolation” (King James Version, Revised Version; compare Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). The Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation, evidently read a different Hebrew word, ʿoreb, which means raven or “crow.” This possibility is followed by most modern translations (Revised Standard Version, Moffatt, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) and is to be recommended. Good News Translation also follows the Greek and translates “Crows will caw on the doorsteps.” The words croak and “caw” are used in English especially of the cry of birds like crows and ravens, and translators may be able to use a similar specific term in their own languages. In some languages it will be necessary to refer to some sort of black bird that has a raucous cry. In areas where houses do not have a threshold, or “doorsteps,” a more generic word like “doorway” will be suitable (compare New American Bible, New International Version).

For her cedar work will be laid bare: the last sentence of the verse is somewhat separate from the earlier sentences and speaks about the ruin of the splendid buildings of Nineveh. Some scholars believe that the underlying Hebrew words have arisen by confusion with the opening words of verse 15, which contain some similar letters, and that they should be dropped. Some modern versions (Moffatt, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New English Bible) therefore omit this sentence. Other scholars divide up the Hebrew letters slightly differently to give the meaning “the cedar has disappeared.” This interpretation seems to be behind the Good News Translation rendering “The cedar wood of her buildings will be stripped away.” Note that Good News Translation has made two small points explicit. First, it has stated that “cedar” is “wood,” and second, it has stated that this wood was used in the city’s “buildings.” Many translators will wish to follow this example, especially in cultures where cedar and its uses are not well known. In certain languages translators may wish to render this clause as “For they will strip the cedar wood from her buildings,” “they” being unknown people (compare Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). It is also possible to say “For enemies will strip…,” because the pronoun “they” might be misunderstood to refer to the animals and birds mentioned earlier in the verse.

The hard and long-lasting wood of the cedar tree was highly valued for use in luxurious buildings. It was used for instance in the building of Solomon’s Temple (1 Kgs 6.9, 10) and palace (1 Kgs 7.3, 7). When the buildings of Nineveh were destroyed, it was natural that people would take away the expensive cedar timbers to use again elsewhere. This interpretation therefore seems to fit the context well and is recommended to translators.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• She (or, The city of Nineveh) will be a place where domesticated and wild animals of all kinds will lie down. Owls (or, Predatory night birds) will live among the ruins and make hooting sounds from the windows. Black birds (or, Crows) will make cawing sounds on the doorsteps. People will strip away the cedar wood from her buildings.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Zephaniah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .