millet

To illustrate the siege of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is instructed to make a loaf of bread out of wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet (dochan in Hebrew), and spelt in Ezekiel 4:9. In Arabic millet is called dukhn or dochna, suggesting that the Hebrew word dochan could indeed be millet. Some scholars believe that Millet Panicum miliaceum or Panicum callosum was first domesticated in Ethiopia, but others say in India or the East Indies. From one of those places it was carried into Mesopotamia around 3000 B.C. If that is so, it may have been known to the people of Israel during their stay in Egypt as well as after the conquest of Canaan. In Ezekiel 27:17 a reference is made to pannag, which Moldenke (Plants of the Bible. Chronica Botanica. Ronald Press, 1952) takes as possibly referring to millet, on the basis of the fact that in Syriac pannag refers to millet. However, Hepper (Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Plants: Flowers and Trees, Fruits and Vegetables, Ecology. Baker Book House, 1992) says that neither millet nor sorghum reached the Mediterranean area before the Christian era, making it unlikely that dochan or pannag refer to either millet or sorghum.

Today millet is used throughout the world for porridge, alcoholic beverages, and as animal food. It is not good for bread, which may be significant in the incident mentioned in Ezekiel 4:9.

If indeed millet was grown at all in Old Testament times, it would have been a short variety less than 1 meter (3 feet) in height. It has a single head on a stalk, with many tiny seeds, so the Latin name is miliaceum (“million seeds”).

There are six hundred kinds of Panicum species growing in the warm and tropical zones of the world, many of them domesticated, and two in Europe. Translators who do not have a local word for millet will need to use a transliteration from a major language, for example, French millet, Portuguese miliyo, and Spanish mijo. Since the references to millet are part of lists in non-rhetorical contexts, there is no need to look for a cultural equivalent.

Panicum miliaceum, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

liquidambar (Oriental sweetgum𖺗 storax)

The Hebrew word tsori (“balm”) may be the basis for the word “storax,” which Zohary (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982) takes to be a name for the dried resin of the liquidambar Liquidambar orientalis, a tree that is also called kataf or nataf in Hebrew.

The Hebrew word nataf does not occur outside of Exodus 30:34 in the Bible. The Septuagint renders it staktē, which NRSVue transliterates as “stacte.” According to Zohary, nataf is a synonym of tsori (= storax), which is found six times in the Bible. The liquidambar (or storax) is a tree that used to grow widely in the Middle East and Turkey.

The liquidambar tree grows to 10 meters (33 feet) tall, and has deeply incised leaves with five points and round yellow flowers on a 4 centimeter (2 inch) stalk. The fruits are prickly. The sticky gray-brown gum is produced by making cuts in the trunk of the tree.

The Jeremiah and Ezekiel references indicate that tsori was medicinal. We conclude from Exodus 30:34 that it was aromatic. Genesis 37:25 shows that it was highly valued in trade with Egypt.

The genus Liquidambar was widespread many thousands of years ago, according to fossil evidence, but it disappeared from Europe when the glaciers came. The surviving species, apart from orientalis in the Middle East, are formosana in South China and Taiwan and styraciflua in the eastern United States and Central America.

The references to tsori in Genesis and Ezekiel are non-rhetorical, as is nataf in Exodus. If Zohary is correct, and the translator wants to be specific, then a transliteration of “storax” may be used in these passages. Alternatively, in Exodus 30:34 translators can use a generic expression such as “resin” or “gum resin”; that is, they can use their local word for the globs of hardened sap that come from trees that produce it.

If a word for “sweet-smelling healing ointment” exists, it can be used for tsori in Genesis. Tsori is the second of three spices the Ishmaelite traders carried in Genesis 37:25, the other two being neko’th (“gum”) and lot (“myrrh” or “resin”). Translators can cover all three words with a phrase such as “different kinds of sweet-smelling medicine and incense.” Transliteration is also possible, from Hebrew tsori or Arabic nakaa/nakati. “Balm” in English is not a good basis for transliteration.

Liquidambar trunk, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

fat, oil

The different Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Judah, Judea

The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)


“Judah” and “Judea” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

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 Judah, Judah (son of Jacob) , and Tribe of Judah .

terebinth

The Hebrew words ’elah and ’alah refer to any of three species of terebinth mentioned in the Bible: 1) the Atlantic terebinth Pistacia atlantica, 2) the Palestinian terebinth Pistacia palaestina, and 3) the Lentisk Terebinth Pistacia lentiscus, also called the mastic tree.

According to Zohary (Plants of the Bible, Cambridge University Press, 1982), the Atlantic terebinth, also called the teil tree, is found in the Negev, Lower Galilee, and the Dan Valley. Hepper (Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Plants, Baker Book House, 1992) says it was once abundant in Gilead, the trunk and bark being a possible source for aromatic resin (mastic) exported to Egypt. It is a dry-land tree that grows in the border areas between ever-green woodlands and the dwarf-shrub steppes (note “valley of Elah” in 1 Samuel 17:2 et al.). The nuts of the Atlantic terebinth are used for dyeing and tanning animal skins, but they can be eaten if roasted. They are often sold in Arab markets, are bigger than the nuts of the Palestinian terebinth, and are quite different from the true pistachio nuts.

The Palestinian terebinth is found mostly on wooded hills, often together with the common oak. Its little round nuts can be eaten whole, fresh, or roasted, and it is probably these nuts (boten) that were carried to Egypt by the sons of Jacob (Genesis 43:11).

The lentisk terebinth is a shrub or bush that grew in the hills of Gilead, and may be the source of the “balm/resin” (tsori in Hebrew) carried by the Ishmaelites in Genesis 37:25, and by the sons of Jacob to Egypt along with pistachio nuts in Genesis 43:11. The fact that Genesis 37:25 et al. all mention Gilead in connection with the resin tsori, suggests that its source was a plant unique to Palestine. That is why it could be used to trade for goods from Egypt. The references in Jeremiah (8:22 and 46:11) presumably refer to the salve made from the terebinth resin.

Terebinths look like oaks but have pinnate leaves. The Atlantic terebinth may reach a height of 10 meters (33 feet). The Palestinian terebinth species is shorter, reaching to 5 meters (17 feet). The lentisk terebinth, or mastic (gum) tree, is a small shrub or tree 1-3 meters (3-10 feet) in height that produces a sweet-smelling resin when the stem or branches are cut. The resin dries into hard lumps, which are then ground and dissolved in olive oil for medicinal use, per-fume, incense, varnish, and glue.

Both of the larger terebinths were revered by ancient Israelites and other peoples. They built shrines and altars in the terebinth groves, and sometimes buried people there. The resin of the lentisk terebinth was highly prized for its medicinal value, which is why the Ishmaelites and the sons of Jacob were carrying them as trade goods to Egypt. Sirach 24:16 uses the wide-spreading branches terebinth as a metaphor for wisdom.

Pistacia palaestina, Wikimedia Commons
Pistacia atlantica, Wikimedia Commons
Mastic resin hanging from mastic (Pistacia lentiscus) tree, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

wheat

Two kinds of wild wheat have grown in the open deciduous oak woodland in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent for several thousand years: Einkorn Wheat Triticum monococcum and Emmer Wheat Triticum dicoccum. Both came into cultivation together with barley. Just before the time of the Romans, the Naked Bread Wheat or Hard Wheat Triticum durum started replacing the hulled varieties. This then became the favorite type of wheat for bread and macaroni. Spelt is a sub-member of the Triticum aestivum species.

In NRSVue and some other versions, the generic Hebrew word bar has been rendered “wheat” in Jeremiah 23:28 et al. This is legitimate, since the grain referred to by bar was probably wheat. However, it might be better to say “grain” in these passages.

The most important early wheat for the Israelites was emmer, probably the only wheat known in Egypt, and referred to in Hebrew as chittah. However, according to Hepper (Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Plants: Flowers and Trees, Fruits and Vegetables, Ecology. Baker Book House, 1992), the seven-headed wheat of the Egyptian king’s dream (Genesis 41:5ff.) suggests that there may also have been Triticum turgidum (rivet wheat) in the emmer group. The Hebrew word kusemeth probably refers to a type of emmer wheat that the Egyptians called swt.

Wheat is a type of grass like rice and barley, growing to around 75 centimeters (2.5 feet) in height and having a head with many small grains in rows.

Bread made from wheat was the staple food for the people of ancient Israel, so God punished them by breaking “the staff of bread” (see, for example, Ezekiel 4:16).

If wheat is unfamiliar, translators can transliterate from a major language in non-rhetorical contexts (for example, English witi, Portuguese trigo, French ble or froment, Swahili ngano, Arabic kama/alkama). The transliteration may add a generic tag such as “grain.” The New Testament passages are mostly rhetorical, opening the possibility for a metaphorical equivalent.

Wheat head, photo by Gloria Suess

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Ezekiel 27:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 27:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “You exchanged your things with the people of Judah and Israel. They gave you wheat, olive oil, honey and medicines.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘ ‘Juda and Israel also made-business with you. What they paid for your merchandise were wheat from Minnit, fig, honey, oil, and balm.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Men from Judah and Israel brought wheat from Minnith city in Ammon, and figs, honey, olive oil, and ointment to trade for your things.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.