28The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained.
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated into English as “chariot” is translated into Anuak as “canoe pulled by horse.” “Canoe” is the general term for “vehicle” (source: Loren Bliese). Similarly it is translated in Lokạạ as ukwaa wạ nyanyang ntuuli or “canoe that is driven by horses.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Other translations include:
Chichicapan Zapotec: “ox cart” (in Acts 8) (ox carts are common vehicles for travel) (source: Loren Bliese)
Chichimeca-Jonaz, it is translated as “little house with two feet pulled by two horses” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
HausaCommon Language Bible as keken-doki or “cart of donkey” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The term that is used for monarchs in ancient Egypt and is transliterated as “Pharaoh” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying the “fake metal beard (postiche)” that was word by Pharaohs during official functions. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin that is translated as “army” in English is translated in Chichewa as “group of warriors.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “survive,” “escape,” “save,” or similar in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) in these verses with pulumuka, describing someone whose life was in danger but who has freed himself or herself. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 14:28:
Kupsabiny: “Water returned and covered those chariots and the people who were moving on the horses together with all the soldiers of Egypt who followed those Israelites up to there. Not even one escaped among those who went into the sea.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh that had followed them. No one of them survived.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The waters covered/enveloped all the soldiers of the king of Egipto who chased the Israelinhon including their horse riders and chariots. Not even one of them was-able-to-survive/was-saved.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “And the ocean flowed back and so covered the karises and karis owners and all the fighting people of the great chief of Isip. [Of] the Isip people who followed the Israel people and went into the midst of the ocean there, none of them returned back. All of them died and were finished.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “And chariot of horse, and horsemen, and army which followed people of Israel all, it covered them head. There is no one who be spared.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “The water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and the whole Egyptian army that had tried to follow us Israelis into the sea. Every one of the Egyptians drowned.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The various Greek, Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
The waters returned seems to repeat “the sea returned” in verse 27, but it adds emphasis to the story. New American Bible has “As the water flowed back,” and Revised English Bible has “As the water came back.” And covered the chariots and the horsemen uses a word that means to cover over or conceal, so Good News Translation has “the water returned and covered….” New Jerusalem Bible has “washed right over.”
The chariots and the horsemen are clear enough, but there is a problem with and all the host of Pharaoh. This is following the Septuagint, as the Revised Standard Version footnote indicates, but the Hebrew says “to all the army of Pharaoh.” Host is better translated as “army” (see verse 9). So the problem is whether this is speaking of the “army” as separate from the cavalry, or whether the “army” includes the cavalry. Even though Good News Translation agrees with Revised Standard Version, it is better to follow the Hebrew here, as New Revised Standard Version has done: “the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh.” New Jerusalem Bible has “the chariots and horsemen of Pharaoh’s entire army,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh is even more explicit: “the chariots and the horsemen—Pharaoh’s entire army.” (So also New International Version.) In a number of languages this will be expressed as “the chariots, the soldiers riding on horses—all of the king’s soldiers,” or even “and covered all of the king’s soldiers, whether in the chariots or riding horses.”
That had followed them into the sea, literally “the ones who entered after them into the sea,” is a bit ambiguous. Were there some of the “army” who did not go in? The rest of the verse suggests that all the forces of the Pharaoh, and the Pharaoh himself, are included. Not so much as one of them remained means that all the Egyptians were drowned. New English Bible has “not one man was left alive,” and New International Version has “Not one of them survived.”
Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.