The Greek and Hebrew phrases that are often translated as “birds of the air” in English “refer to the undomesticated song birds or wild birds, to be distinguished in a number of languages from domesticated fowl. In Tzeltal these former are ‘field birds’.” (source: Bratcher / Nida)
Q’anjob’al also uses an established term for non-domesticated birds. Newberry and Kittie Cox (in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. ) explain: “Qʼanjobʼal has two distinct terms, one to identify domesticated birds and the other non-domesticated birds. The additional descriptive phrase ‘of the air’ seemed entirely misleading, for Qʼanjobʼal speakers had never heard of such creatures. Actually, of course, all that was necessary was the term for non-domesticated birds, for that is precisely the meaning of the Biblical expression.”
In Elhomwe they are just translated as “birds” or “birds of the bush” (i.e., wild birds) to “not give the impression that these are special type of birds.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 4:12:
Kupsabiny: “This tree had beautiful leaves, and it yielded fruits enough for people of the whole of this earth/land to eat. Wild animals rest under its shade and birds built nests on its branches. Every creature on earth eats the fruits of that tree.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Its leaves were beautiful, on the plant, and it bore fruit abundantly. There was enough fruit for the whole world to eat. Wild animals lived under the tree and birds of the sky took shelter in its branches. And all creatures ate its fruit.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Its leaves were beautiful and its fruits were plenty that can-feed everyone/all. The animals sought-shelter in it and the birds built-nest on its branches. All the creatures got their food from there.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “It had beautiful leaves, and it had produced a lot of fruit for people to eat. Wild animals rested in the shade of that tree, and birds built nests in its branches. All the living creatures everywhere in the world got food from that tree.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
This verse constitutes an example of double parallelism within six lines. The structure may be outlined according to the following scheme, in which “=” marks items that are parallel to each other:
(A = B) + C = (D = E) + F
The translator may conserve this structure if it is natural in the receptor language. Or it may be possible to simplify it, as in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch,
([A = B] = [D = E])
and then combine lines C and F into a single element at the end of the verse; thus Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “It carried thick leaves and abundant fruit. In its shadow rested the animals; birds nested in its branches; and everything that lived received its nourishment from it (the tree).” Another possible model is the following: “It had beautiful leaves and much fruit on it. Animals rested under it and birds nested on its branches. It provided enough food for everyone on earth to eat.”
In it was food for all: it may be very inappropriate to use the preposition in to describe the relationship between the tree and its fruit. New Century Version has “On the tree was food for everyone.” Another way of saying this is “it provided enough food for all.”
The beasts of the field … birds of the air: in many languages the words of the field and of the air are redundant and may be omitted. Compare 2.38.
Dwelt: while the Aramaic word is general, the context with birds as subject makes it more appropriate in some languages to say “built their nests” as in Good News Translation or “found shelter” (Revised English Bible). New Revised Standard Version has “nested in its branches.”
All flesh: the expression is used to refer to every kind of living creature, whether animal or human.
Was fed from it: once again the passive form will have to be translated actively in many languages. It is possible to say something like “every creature got what it needed to eat from it” or “every living being ate from it.”
Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.