family / clan / house

The Hebrew terms that are translated as “family” or “clan” or “house” or similar in English are all translated in Kwere as ng’holo or “clan.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as “kin-group.”

See also tribe.

Levite

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is transliterated “Levites” in English (only the Contemporary English Version translates it as “temple helpers”) is translated in Ojitlán Chinantec as “temple caretakers,” Yatzachi Zapotec as “people born in the family line of Levi, people whose responsibility it was to do the work in the important church of the Israelites,” in Alekano as “servants in the sacrifice house from Jerusalem place,” and in Tenango Otomi as “helpers of priests.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)

In American Sign Language with a sign that combines “temple” + “servant.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Levite” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

For the sign in Spanish Sign Language, see Levi.

More information about Levites .

Aaron

The name that is transliterated as “Aaron” in English is translated in Catalan Sign Language and Spanish Sign Language as “stones on chest plate” (according to Exodus 28:15-30) (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


“Aaron” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In Colombian Sign Language, Honduras Sign Language, and American Sign Language, the chest plate is outlined (in ASL it is outlined using the letter “A”):


“Aaron” in ASL (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Moses, more information on Aaron , and this lectionary in The Christian Century .

complete verse (Exodus 6:25)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 6:25:

  • Kupsabiny: “Eleazar son of Aaron married the daughter of Putiel. That lady bore a child called Phinehas. These are the clan elders of Levi.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.
    These were the heads of the Levite families, clans.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Eleazar child/(son) of Aaron married one of the children/(daughters) of Putiel. Their male child was Finehas.
    They were the ancestors of the families who came-from Levi.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “Aron’s son Eleasar married the female child of Putiel. She bore Pinias.
    These people were leading in each of the families [descended] from Livai.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “Eleazar who be son of Aaron, he took woman of Putiel for his wife. She bore for him Phinehas. These people all, it is they who be chiefs of family of people of Levi.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she gave birth to Phinehas. That ends the list of the families and clans that were descended from Levi.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 6:25

Eleazar was the third son of Aaron (verse 23). He is mentioned here because his older brothers died childless (Num 3.4) even before their father died. He also succeeded his father as high priest (Deut 10.6). Took to wife means “married” as in verse 20. His wife is not named, but she was not the only daughter of her father Putiel. (For she bore him see verse 20.) The genealogy ends with Phinehas, who succeeded his father Eleazar as high priest (Judges 20.28).

These refers back to all the male descendants of Levi listed in verses 16-25. There are six generations from Levi to Phinehas, but all those named in these verses are considered heads of the fathers’ houses for all the Levites, that is, for all the descendants of Levi. The Hebrew does not include the word for houses in this verse, although it is used in verse 14. Most translations supply it since it is probably understood. But it is also possible to interpret the Hebrew as referring to “the leading Levitical ancestors,” as Translator’s Old Testament has done. Since the words These are the heads are found only in verses 14 and 25, they should be understood as a formula that marks the beginning and the end of the entire genealogy.

The distinction between fathers’ houses and families is not clear in the Hebrew, but it is possible that fathers’ houses is intended as the larger unit. Good News Translation combines the two expressions as “the families and the clans.” It may be easier to say “clans and families,” since a “clan” normally included several extended “families.” (See the diagram of family structures and where “clans” fit in, at verse 14.) Contemporary English Version has a good alternative translation model: “This ends the list of those who were the heads of clans in the Levi tribe.” One may also translate “All these men who have been listed were the heads of the clans of the Levites, arranged by families.”

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 .