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).
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 15:2:
Kupsabiny: “He ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother was called Maacah of the house of Absalom.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “He reigned in Jerusalem for three years. His mother was Maacah, daughter of Abishalom.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Abia lived in Jerusalem, and he reigned for a period/[lit inside] of three years. His mother was Maaca the grandchild of Absalom.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, the granddaughter of David’s son Absalom.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
He reigned for three years in Jerusalem: 1–2 Kings date the reign of each king of Judah and Israel in relation to the number of years that the king of the other kingdom had been reigning and in terms of the number of years that each king himself reigned. Precise reconstruction of the dates today is not possible. If Abijah became king in the eighteenth year that Jeroboam ruled in the north and if Abijah ruled for three years, then how could Asa become king of Judah in the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign (verse 9)? See the discussion in the introductory notes on 1 Kgs 14.1-18.
His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom: The identification of Abijah’s mother is a difficult problem. Here she is identified as Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 2 Chr 11.20 says that she was the daughter of “Absalom.” If “Absalom” is simply a variant spelling, as seems likely, then she may have been the granddaughter of King David’s son Absalom, that is, daughter is used with the sense “granddaughter” (so Revised English Bible; similarly New Jerusalem Bible, which says “descendant of Absalom”). But it is possible that Absalom refers to a different person and not to David’s son. 2 Chr 13.2, however, states that Abijah’s mother was “Micaiah the daughter of Uriel,” not Maacah the daughter of Absalom. This is further complicated by the fact that in verse 10 of this chapter, Maacah the daughter of Abishalom is identified as the mother of Asa if the text is to be taken literally. However these differences are explained, translators must translate the text as it stands without attempting to harmonize the different accounts.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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