complete verse (Exodus 16:36)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 16:36:

  • Kupsabiny: “(Ten two-liter containers filled one basket.)” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “An omer is about three quarts.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “(Every day each one gathered their one omer of which is manna, which-is about one gantang.)” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “(In that day, the Israel people were counting the food in small clay pots and large ones. The large clay pots were [big] enough for them to pour ten small clay pots into them.)” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “(Scale their, they called it Omer one, it be the same with scale which is named ephah which be 10 which be the same with cup two.)” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “(The standard measure that they used at that time held 20 quarts/liters.)” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 16:36

This verse is an editorial comment intended to explain what an omer was, but it assumes that the Hebrew reader (or hearer) knows what an ephah was. The word omer occurs only in this chapter in the Bible, which indicates that it was not widely known. Good News Translation avoids the use of either term: “The standard dry measure then in use equaled twenty quarts.” (The British edition of Good News Translation has “twenty litres.”) But even this is not much help to the reader. It is better to say “An omer is one tenth of an ephah” (New American Bible) and then add a footnote explaining that the ephah was the standard dry measure that equaled approximately twenty quarts. Placing this verse in parentheses may help the reader to understand this as an editorial comment. However, many translators will not have transliterated omer throughout this chapter, but will have translated the meaning of the term; for example, “two quarts”; in that case one may express this verse as “Two quarts is the tenth part of an ephah” and have a footnote explaining what an ephah is. Another way to state verse 36 is to transliterate both terms as follows: “An omer (two quarts) is one tenth of an ephah (twenty quarts).” Contemporary English Version actually removes this verse from the text and places it in a footnote that states:
The Hebrew text adds: “An omer is one tenth of an ephah.”

But there is no textual support for removing this verse from the text, so this is not a recommended option.

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 .