A tall evergreen, the Grecian Juniper Juniperus excelsa, also known as the Eastern Savin, grew in the mountains of Lebanon along with cedars, firs, and cypress (the Hebrew word berosh probably covered all three of these trees). The association of berosh with Mount Senir in Ezekiel 27:5 argues for the Grecian juniper there, since Mount Senir was known to have plenty of Grecian junipers. Lebanese people up to today refer to the juniper as brotha, a likely cognate with berosh. King Solomon undoubtedly hauled these trees to Jerusalem along with cedars and firs to use in constructing his palace and the Temple of Yahweh.
The Grecian juniper is a conical tree reaching a height of 20 meters (65 feet). Its “leaves” are round rather than flat, and the fruit is an inedible seed-bearing, fleshy cone.
There is no single Hebrew or Greek word that refers specifically to the Grecian juniper. In our discussion of cypress and fir, we have advocated translating berosh generically or as “fir” or “juniper” in 1-2 Kings and 2 Chronicles (where it is typically associated with Lebanon or cedar). If no generic word is available in the receptor language, a descriptive phrase such as “strong, beautiful tree/wood” can be used. In poetical passages, local poetic equivalents could be considered.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 27:5:
Kupsabiny: “You were built with boards of podo-trees of/from mount Hermon and (a) cedar tree from Lebanon was taken to become your post/pillar.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “You are like a big something-to-ride-on which is made of cypress/pine wood/trees which come from Senir. Your mast was-made of cedar wood from Lebanon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “You were like a huge ship that was built from the from pine/cypress trees on Hermon Mountain. Then they took cedar wood from Lebanon to make a mast for the ship.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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. )
Long ago the majestic cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) completely covered the upper slopes of the Lebanon Mountains on the western and northern sides. Now only a few pockets of these mighty cedars remain. At that time they were mixed, as they are today, with other trees such as Cilician fir, Grecian juniper, cypress, and Calabrian pine.
We know from 1 Kings that Solomon used cedar wood in his palace and in the Temple. Cedar was used for beams, boards, pillars, and ceilings. Historians tell us that the Assyrians also hauled cedars to their land for use in buildings. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon also imported cedars from Lebanon. In some versions of Isaiah we read that people made idols of cedar and oak (44:14-20). Finally, when the Temple was rebuilt by the returning exiles (Ezra 3:7), they again cut down cedar trees to grace the house of God.
In 2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles and Ezra, when Lebanon is specifically mentioned, there can be no doubt that ’erez is Cedrus libani, the “cedar of Lebanon,” although it is possible that sometimes the word was used loosely to include various evergreen trees.
In the description of the purification rituals (Leviticus 14:4 at al.), the word ’erez probably refers to the Phoenician juniper tree, since that was the only cedar-like tree in the Sinai Desert.
Description Cedar trees can reach 30 meters (100 feet) high with a trunk more than 2 meters (7 feet) in diameter. The leaves of true cedars are not flat like those of most trees, but consist of tufts of dark green, shiny spines. (The cedars in North America have a flatter type of spine than the biblical cedar.) The wood is fragrant and resistant to insects. Cedars bear cones and can live to be two or three thousand years old.
The cedar of Lebanon is famous for its large size (see Isaiah 2:13 et al.), and for the fragrance of its wood. Psalm 92:12 links the cedar to righteousness, that is, presumably, to its straightness and height above other trees. The cedar is the national emblem of Lebanon.
Cedrus species are found in the mountains of North Africa, in the Himalayas, in India, and in North America. Translators in these places, should, of course, use the local name in nonfigurative references. In sub Saharan Africa, translators can transliterate from Hebrew (’erez), Greek (kedar), English (sedar), or another major language, or they can take a generic solution such as “large, beautiful tree.” In poetic passages (wisdom literature and prophecy), some translators may wish to use a cultural equivalent with these traits. In Africa, according to Burkhill (The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa, volume 4. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, 1985), the Pink Mahogany Guarea cedrata is also called the pink African cedar because of the cedar-like scent of its timber. Likewise, some people in India and Australia use “cedar” to refer to the toon because of its reddish wood. I do not recommend such substitutes in historical passages, since the ’erez is not related to these trees. In some figurative passages, however, the substitution could be effective, since all are large trees with reddish wood. However, each passage has to be evaluated to determine the intended effect of the image.
Verses 5-7 describe the construction and appearance of the ship. For this reason most translators find it necessary here to make it clear that Tyre is being compared to a ship here. They may begin this verse with “As if you were a great ship, the people who built you….”
They made all your planks of the fir trees of Senir: The planks probably refer to the “ribs” (Revised English Bible, Anchor Bible; that is, the structural framework of the ship) or the “timbers” (New International Version) or “boards” (New Century Version) that were used to make the sides of the ship. In most English translations the wood used for the framework and sides of the ship is called “fir” (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New Century Version, King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible), “cypress” (Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Moffatt), or “pine” (New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, Revised English Bible; see FFB, which believes it is the Aleppo pine, the Hebrew word for fir is a generic term that probably included cypress, fir and juniper trees, which are all evergreen coniferous trees. Plants of the Bible believes the word for fir mostly likely refers to Grecian juniper trees in this context since many of these trees grew at Senir. This juniper tree can reach a height of 20 meters (65 feet) and is good for building. It is probably best to choose a general term for this tree, such as “fir” or “juniper.” If readers are not familiar with this tree, translators may say “trees called fir [or, juniper].” Senir is an old name for Mount Hermon, which was one of the peaks in the large mountain range to the north of Israel. Some translations use “Mount Hermon” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version), because it is the more familiar name. This is a sensible approach. A possible model for these two lines is “They [or, The builders] made all your boards from juniper trees from Mount Hermon.”
And they took cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you: For the cedar tree, see the comments on 17.3. Some scholars think that this tree may be too big to be appropriate for the mast of a ship. They suggest that the more slender trunk of the fir tree fits better here. Even if that is the case, it is best for translators to follow the Hebrew by saying “wood called cedar.” The cedar wood came from Lebanon, that is, the Lebanon mountains, north of Israel (see 17.3). They were famous for the cedar forests that grew there. A mast is a long pole that stands upright in a ship or boat to hold up the sail, which is a piece of canvas or other material. Sailors attach sails to the mast of a ship to catch the wind so that the ship moves along. If readers are not familiar with this kind of sailing, then translators will have to use a long descriptive phrase for mast; for example, these two lines may be rendered “They took a cedar tree from Lebanon to make the long pole that holds the sheet that catches the wind and makes the boat move.”
Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.