coat of mail

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “coat of mail” or similar in English is translated in Newari as “iron sheet” (source: Newari Back Translation).

elephant

Although the first definite reference to elephants in the Bible is in the Greek deuterocanonical book of 1 Maccabees, ivory (literally “tooth”) is mentioned first in the time of Solomon. By this date there were already ivory trade routes from the Sudan down the Nile and by sea from where Djibouti is now on the African Red Sea coast to where Eilat is now on the Gulf of Aqaba. Some of the ivory may have been made from the teeth of the hippopotamus but two references, 1 Kings 10:22 and 2 Chronicles 9:21, specifically refer to elephant ivory (literally “elephant’s tooth”). Ivory was probably known even much earlier than this since ornaments dating from around 2300 B.C. have been found in Palestine.

The Indian Elephant Elephas maximus was domesticated and trained for use in war very early well before the second millennium B.C. When Alexander the Great extended his empire into India in the fourth century B.C. he obtained war elephants to incorporate into his army. The idea of using elephants in war then spread to the Middle East. There was a smaller variety of this elephant found in Syria and Mesopotamia. By the third century B.C. domestic Indian elephants had been introduced into Egypt. Ptolemy II is reported to have had ninety-six elephants, four to a chariot, and later that same century when Ptolemy IV defeated the Seleucid king of Syria, Antiochus III, he is reported to have captured Syrians’ elephants. However, the Seleucid kings continued to use war elephants, and the next king, Epiphanes, attacked Egypt with elephants. He and his son then used them in their campaign against the Jews. According to 1Maccabees each elephant with thirty-two soldiers mounted on it, besides the Indian handler went into battle ahead of one thousand Syrian soldiers and five hundred horsemen. One of Maccabeus’ brothers was able to kill the largest elephant by getting under it and stabbing it, but he was himself killed when the elephant fell on him. At a later time probably because the Indian elephants were difficult to obtain the African Elephant Loxodonta africana was tamed for use in war. Coins show that the elephants used by the Roman Emperor Hadrian to cross the Alps were African probably brought from North Africa.

Elephas is the word most commonly used in the deuterocanonical books although elephantarchēs which means commander of an elephant squadron is used in 2 Maccabees 14:12 and 3 Maccabees 5:4 and 3 Maccabees 5:45 and thērion which means “monster” is used in 2 Maccabees 15:20f.

Elephants are the largest land animals on earth, the males of the Indian species being about 3 meters (10 feet) in height and weighing almost 4,000 kilograms (8,800 pounds). The African species is about half a meter (20 inches) higher and weighs up to 6,000 kilograms (13,200 pounds). The elephant’s trunk is basically an elongated nose, but it has muscles that make it a very useful feature. With it the elephant can not only smell but can pull down branches to eat, pick berries off bushes, draw up water to squirt into its mouth or over its body, and can use it as a weapon. On either side of the trunk the males grow long tusks that are often over 2 meters (6 feet) in length. These are used for digging up roots, gouging bark off trees, and lifting logs. These tusks are made of ivory. Elephants have large ears, which they use to fan themselves.

They are a dark gray color and have no fur. Their body looks almost hairless but in fact they are covered with bristly hairs. They feed on vegetation such as leaves roots shoots bark and fruit.

There are local words for elephant in most African, Middle Eastern, and Asian languages, and many international languages use a word derived from the Greek name elephas. In some areas even though there are no elephants, the fossilized bones of mammoths, the ancient relative of the elephant, are known, and this local name is used for modern elephants too. In most other areas the word for elephant is a word that is borrowed from the dominant language of the area.

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

Translation commentary on 1 Maccabees 6:35

And they distributed the beasts among the phalanxes: The beasts refers to the elephants. Good News Bible says “The huge animals,” but translators may say “the elephants” (Contemporary English Version) if that will be clearer to their readers. A phalanx was a tight formation of foot soldiers (usually sixteen parallel lines deep) armed with long spears, advancing with shields held forward and overlapping. It was developed by Philip of Macedon and used by Alexander the Great (see 1Macc 1.1). Good News Bible has “infantry units” for phalanxes and Contemporary English Version has “troops.” Neither of these models satisfactorily describe the phalanx. It is better to say “tightly packed groups of soldiers,” “groups of soldiers in tight formations,” or even “groups of soldiers standing shoulder-to-shoulder in lines.” An alternative model for this clause is “They placed these huge animals here and there [or, at intervals] among the foot soldiers, who were drawn up in tight formation.”

With each elephant they stationed a thousand men armed with coats of mail, and with brass helmets on their heads: Coats of mail were flexible pieces of armor covering the upper part of the body. They were composed of small pieces or rings of metal linked together. They are sometimes called “chain mail,” and the Greek word used here implies chains, if not of linked rings, of linked plates of armor. A coat of mail was different from a “breastplate,” which was a solid piece of metal (see 1Macc 3.3). The purpose of a coat of mail was to deflect javelins or arrows while allowing freedom of movement. Brass helmets is better rendered “bronze helmets” (Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version). “Bronze” is an alloy of copper and tin, making the metal much harder than copper. It can be polished so that it has a bright smooth surface. A helmet was protective armor covering the head. An alternative model for this whole clause is “they stationed a thousand men wearing coats of mail [or, armor] and bronze helmets with each animal.”

And five hundred picked horsemen were assigned to each beast: It is doubtful that anyone went through the 20,000 cavalrymen to pick out 16,000 (500 for each of the 32 elephants; see verse 30). Picked here probably means “elite,” which is at least suggested by Good News Bible‘s rendering for this clause: “Each animal was also accompanied by a special force of 500 cavalry.” We could say “Also, five hundred expert horsemen accompanied each animal [or, elephant]” or “Each elephant also had 500 expert horsemen to go [or, march along] with it.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.