bed

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “bed” or similar in English is translated in Noongar as maya-ngwoorndiny or “bark sleeping” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

See also mat, bed.

frog

There is little doubt that the Hebrew and Greek words mean “frog”. The plague of frogs mentioned in Exodus comes after the plague of polluted water. The frogs seem to have left the water and come into the villages. Since frogs eat flies and thus control fly populations, it seems likely that the death of the frogs was one of the causes of the next two plagues to trouble Egypt, namely gnats and flies.

The two most common frogs in the Middle East and Egypt are the Edible Frog Rana esculenta and the Spotted Frog Rana punctata. They are both about 70 millimeters (3 inches) long and are brown or olive-green in color. They live in the water almost all of the time and eat gnats, flies, and other waterside insects. They lay eggs, which hatch as tadpoles and gradually grow legs. The hind legs are much bigger and better developed than the front legs, since the hind legs are used for jumping.

Frogs were considered unclean by the Jews and also by the Egyptians and Persians, who associated them with demons.

Frogs are found all over the world, and there should be no problem in finding a local equivalent.

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Exodus 8:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 8:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “The frogs will fill the river Nile and will invade in large numbers to your palace/place of administration, and (they) will enter your inner room where you sleep up to the bed. They will go inside homes and enter every sauce-pan, every utensil used for kneading flour for bread. These frogs will fill up every place even up to the houses of the leaders/officials in your land.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The river Nile will be full of frogs. They will come into your palace, your bedroom, your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people and into your oven and kneading dish.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The River of the Nile will-be-filled with frogs and they will-go-inside your (sing.) palace, into your (sing.) bedroom and even into your (sing.) thing-to-lay-down-on. They will- also -go-inside the houses of your (sing.) officials and of your (sing.) people, and even to the place-for-cooking-by-fire and to the place-where- flour -is-kneaded.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “The Nail river will be very full of the frogs. And the frogs will leave the water and arise and then be jumping and going into your house and your sleeping room and your bed also. And the frogs will be jumping up also into the houses of your [subordinate] leaders and all your people. And they will be jumping up also into your things for cooking and your dishes for bret.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “River of Nile will be crowded with frog, and it will climb [this direction] out, entering house your with bedroom your, climbing on bed your, entering house of servants your and your people, sitting in fireplace your and bread-making-gourd your.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “Not only will the Nile River be full of frogs, but the frogs will come up out of the river into your palace. They will come into your bedroom and onto your bed. They will be in the houses of your officials and all the rest of your people. They will even get into your ovens and your pans for mixing the materials for baking bread.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 8:3

The Nile, literally “the river,” is the Nile River in Egypt. Shall swarm with frogs means it will be “full of frogs” (Good News Translation) in countless numbers. Which shall come up into your house is literally “and they will come up and they will enter into your house.” The idea is that the frogs will come up from the river onto the land and then enter into the king’s “palace.” The bedchamber was the king’s “bedroom.” The your is singular for house, bedchamber, and bed. Another way to express this is “they will enter your palace, your bedrooms, and your bed.”

The houses of your servants refers to the living quarters of the king’s royal servants, or “officials” (New Revised Standard Version), (as at 7.10). And of your people is literally “and on your people” (New International Version), as the footnote in Revised Standard Version indicates. But most translations follow the Septuagint instead of the Hebrew and understand it as referring to the houses of the people. If the meaning of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is followed, a footnote is advisable. In many languages it will be good to begin a new sentence here and say “Frogs will also enter the houses of your officials.”

Into your ovens probably refers to the clay baking ovens used at the palace, for the your is singular for both ovens and kneading bowls. A Handbook on Leviticus, page 28, has a helpful comment on ovens:

• … the oven was either a kind of hole dug in the earth or a hollow round object made of baked clay and placed on the ground. A fire is made under this object, and when it is well heated, the dough is inserted through the top opening and placed against the inner walls in order to cook it.

Presumably the Israelite ovens were similar to the Egyptian ones, as the Israelites had been living in Egypt for many years. Most cultures have ovens of some type, but translators should avoid loan words, as these often refer to electric or gas ovens. In some languages descriptive phrases will be necessary; for example, “a hot box made of clay” or “a round object made of clay for baking bread.”

The kneading bowls were the containers in which the people, using their hands, mixed the ingredients for making bread. They were normally made of either clay or wood, but those in the palace may have been made of bronze. Good News Translation‘s “baking pans” may be misleading.

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 .