cubit

The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek that is translated as “cubit” or into a metric or imperial measurement in English is translated in Kutu, Kwere, and Nyamwezi as makono or “armlength.” Since a cubit is the measurement from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, one armlength (measured from the center of the chest to the fingertips) equals two cubits or roughly 1 meter. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Similarly, in Akoose, the translation is “arm distance.” (Source: Joseph Nkwelle Ngome and Marlie van Rooyen & Jacobus A. Naudé in Communicatio 2009, p. 251ff.)

In Klao it is converted into “hand spans” (app. 6 inches or 12 cm) and “finger spans” (app. 1 inch or 2 cm) (source: Don Slager) and in Bariai into leoa or “fathom,” which comprises the distance from a person’s fingertip to fingertip with arms outstretched, app. 6 feet (source: Bariai Back Translation).

Translation commentary on 2 Maccabees 13:5

For there is a tower in that place, fifty cubits high, full of ashes, and it has a rim running around it which on all sides inclines precipitously into the ashes: The logical connector For may be left implied (so Good News Bible). Fifty cubits is about 23 meters (75 feet). The ashes were probably only ashes, not hot embers. The victim would die by suffocation rather than by burning, but this is not certain. The meaning of the Greek phrase rendered a rim running around it is not clear. Goldstein says “a rotating device,” and Tedesche is similar with “a revolving contraption.” An American Translation has “an arrangement running all around it.” It seems unnecessary to think of any kind of mechanical device being involved. The Greek does suggest that, but the word for rim could apply to something stationary, such as a “platform” (Good News Bible). All they had to do to kill a person was push him over the edge. Good News Bible provides a good description of this place, but it would be a bit better to say “steeply sloping down.” Here is another model for this verse:

• In that city there was a tower about 23 meters [or, 75 feet] high. It was filled with ashes, and from a narrow platform all around the top the inside walls sloped steeply down into the ashes.

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.