naked

The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated as “naked” in English is translated in Enlhet with a figure of speech: “(one’s) smoothness.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )

In Elhomwe the word for “naked” is “shameful to use, and would never be used by a preacher in church.” Therefore “without clothes” is used. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

grain

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “corn”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).

Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “millet” (Lambya) (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), “food” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

complete verse (1 Corinthians 15:37)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 15:37:

  • Uma: “And what we plant is just a plain seed, whether rice or some other plant. It’s not a whole head-of-grain with its stalk and leaves that we stick in the ground. It’s just a plain seed that we plant.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When you plant seeds, for example rice or another seed, it is not the whole plant that you plant but only a seed.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Now that which we plant is just a seed; it may be that rice is what we are planting, or if not, some other plant. However, that seed which is planted, it does not have the form of the plant that it will become when it already sprouts.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “If moreover you (sing.) plant rice or some other seed, you (sing.) don’t plant the already-grown plant but rather the seed only.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And that which is planted, it is very different from what it will become. For just seed is what is planted, like grains of wheat or other seed.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When a seed is planted, whether wheat or another seed, it is not like the seed which is planted that sprouts up. Rather it has another form when it sprouts.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

wheat

Two kinds of wild wheat have grown in the open deciduous oak woodland in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent for several thousand years: Einkorn Wheat Triticum monococcum and Emmer Wheat Triticum dicoccum. Both came into cultivation together with barley. Just before the time of the Romans, the Naked Bread Wheat or Hard Wheat Triticum durum started replacing the hulled varieties. This then became the favorite type of wheat for bread and macaroni. Spelt is a sub-member of the Triticum aestivum species.

In NRSVue and some other versions, the generic Hebrew word bar has been rendered “wheat” in Jeremiah 23:28 et al. This is legitimate, since the grain referred to by bar was probably wheat. However, it might be better to say “grain” in these passages.

The most important early wheat for the Israelites was emmer, probably the only wheat known in Egypt, and referred to in Hebrew as chittah. However, according to Hepper (Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Plants: Flowers and Trees, Fruits and Vegetables, Ecology. Baker Book House, 1992), the seven-headed wheat of the Egyptian king’s dream (Genesis 41:5ff.) suggests that there may also have been Triticum turgidum (rivet wheat) in the emmer group. The Hebrew word kusemeth probably refers to a type of emmer wheat that the Egyptians called swt.

Wheat is a type of grass like rice and barley, growing to around 75 centimeters (2.5 feet) in height and having a head with many small grains in rows.

Bread made from wheat was the staple food for the people of ancient Israel, so God punished them by breaking “the staff of bread” (see, for example, Ezekiel 4:16).

If wheat is unfamiliar, translators can transliterate from a major language in non-rhetorical contexts (for example, English witi, Portuguese trigo, French ble or froment, Swahili ngano, Arabic kama/alkama). The transliteration may add a generic tag such as “grain.” The New Testament passages are mostly rhetorical, opening the possibility for a metaphorical equivalent.

Wheat head, photo by Gloria Suess

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

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 15:37

And correctly leads the reader to expect that the theme of sowing will be continued, and also that something new will be said about it. In fact, it is in this verse that Paul begins to turn to the central theme of contrast between the earthly body and the risen body.

Body: see comment on verse 35.

Not the body which is to be (Good News Bible “not the full-bodied plant”) can be rendered as “not the full-grown plant.”

Bare means literally “naked.” However, in some languages it may be unnatural to speak of a “bare seed” (Good News Bible) or a “naked seed,” in which case an expression meaning “just a seed” may be chosen.

Some other grain: grain is implied. New English Bible has “some other kind,” New International Version “something else,” but Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible are clearer.

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .