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 40:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 40:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then he also measured the top of the gate from the rear wall across to reach the other end. He found that it had a width that could reach forty-four feet.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then the man measured the entire width of the way, and it was 42 feet. The measurement of it from the back stone-wall of the room where the guards watched going-towards the other-side of the stone-wall of the same room.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then he measured the width of the roof of the entrance hallway, the distance between the rear wall of one alcove to the rear wall of the opposite alcove, including the supporting walls along each side. It was 43-3/4 feet/13.3 meters.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 40:13

Then he measured the gate from the back of the one side room to the back of the other, a breadth of five and twenty cubits: Next the man measured from the back of one small room to the back of the opposite room, that is, the entire width of the gatehouse. According to the Hebrew text, he measured from the roof/ceiling of one room to the roof/ceiling of the opposite room (so New Century Version, King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version). Presumably “the ceiling” in Hebrew refers to the point where the back wall met the ceiling (compare New International Version “the top of the rear wall”). It is not clear why he measured it at that height, but it may be that he could not measure it across the floor because of the barrier mentioned in verse 12. The total width of the gatehouse, that is, the passageway plus a small room on either side, was five and twenty cubits, that is, 12.5 meters (42 feet). This is consistent with the measurements noted earlier, where each small room was 3 meters (10 feet) wide and the passageway was 6.5 meters (22 feet) wide.

From door to door is quite misleading, since there were no doors in the small rooms. The Hebrew here is literally “opening opposite opening,” which means the opening, or front, of each small room was opposite the opening, or front, of the small room on the other side of the passageway. This made it possible to measure the width of the gatehouse straight across without any obstacles.

A model for this verse is:

• Then he measured the gatehouse from the top back wall of one small room to the top back wall of the opposite one. Straight across it was 12.5 meters wide.

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 .