cubit

The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek that is translated as “cubit” or into a metric or imperial measurement in English is translated in Kutu, Kwere, and Nyamwezi as makono or “armlength.” Since a cubit is the measurement from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, one armlength (measured from the center of the chest to the fingertips) equals two cubits or roughly 1 meter. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Similarly, in Akoose, the translation is “arm distance.” (Source: Joseph Nkwelle Ngome and Marlie van Rooyen & Jacobus A. Naudé in Communicatio 2009, p. 251ff.)

In Klao it is converted into “hand spans” (app. 6 inches or 12 cm) and “finger spans” (app. 1 inch or 2 cm) (source: Don Slager) and in Bariai into leoa or “fathom,” which comprises the distance from a person’s fingertip to fingertip with arms outstretched, app. 6 feet (source: Bariai Back Translation).

complete verse (Ezekiel 40:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 40:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “There was a short wall in front of each room that had a height of twenty inches going up and a width of the same size. And those guard rooms each side was ten and a half feet.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “In front of each room where the guards watched, there was a short stone-wall which was about 20 inches high and 20 inches thick. These rooms were ten feet square.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “In front of each alcove was a low wall about 21 inches/53 cm. high, and the alcoves were 10-1/2 feet/3.3 meters on each side.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 40:12

There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side: Here Ezekiel describes another feature in the gatehouse, namely, a barrier before the side rooms. The Hebrew word for barrier usually means “border” or “boundary.” Here it refers to a “partition” (Moffatt) of some kind that marked off the edge of the small rooms along the sides of the passageway. The barrier was one cubit on either side, that is, 0.5 meter (1.5 feet) on either side of the passageway. Thus there was a barrier in front of the three small rooms on one side of the passageway, and a barrier in front of the three small rooms on the other side of the passageway, but we cannot tell what the barrier was like. Some translations say it was about one-half meter wide (so New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible), but they do not say how high it was. Others say it was a wall or rail about one-half meter high (so New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version, Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). It could also have been nothing more than a piece of string attached to the wall about one-half meter high, marking off the area of the small rooms. Still others say the barrier was about half a meter high and half a meter wide (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). If so, the barrier may have formed a seat right around the inside of the gatehouse. There is archaeological evidence that town gates in Biblical times had this feature, which enabled town meetings to be held in the gateways (compare Ruth 4.1-12). Since we know so little about the barrier, some translations leave it very general; for example, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh renders this whole clause as “At the fronts of the recesses on either side were barriers of one cubit.” However, most languages will have to be more specific by saying “There was a low wall half a meter high in front of the small rooms,” “There was a string stretched across the front of the small rooms, 500 millimeters off the floor,” “A step half a meter wide ran across in front of the small rooms,” or “A seat half a meter high and half a meter wide ran in front of the small rooms.”

And the side rooms were six cubits on either side: This clause simply repeats the information already given in verse 7 (see the comments there), so Good News Translation places it within parentheses. It may not need to be repeated here, if the information has already been clearly stated.

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 .