horns

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English as “horns (of the altar)” is translated in the French common language editions (1997 and 2019) as angles relevés or “raised angles” and in the Parole de Vie of 2017 as coins relevés or “raised corners.”

In the Arabic TMA translation it is translated as hayth tjllyat Allah (حيث تجلّيات الله) or “where God’s manifestation are” and in the Hausa Common Language Bible as “corners (of the altar).” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

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 43:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 43:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “Where sacrifices were burned, it went up seven feet. Four horns sprang up from the corners at the top of the altar.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The altar had three stories. The lowest story was 27 feet square, and three feet high. The middle story was 24 feet square, and seven feet high. It had somewhat-like-a-canal around which was 20 inches deep and had a hangings/border around which was ten inches high. The upper story was 20 feet square, and seven feet high, and here the offerings were-being-burned. The four corners of it were-as-if-like horns of an animal. There were stairs going-up to the altar at the east side of it.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The hearth/place where the sacrifices are burned at the top of the altar is another 7 feet/2.2 meters high, and there is a projection that juts/extends up from each of the four corners.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 43:15

And the altar hearth, four cubits: The altar hearth was the flat space at the top of the altar where the fire burned the sacrifices. Ezekiel does not say what it was made of. It was too big to have been a metal plate, so it was probably a floor of soil, stone or plaster that the fire would not burn away. From the higher ledge to the hearth was four cubits, that is, 2 meters (7 feet) high. This measurement refers to the third section of the altar that was 2 meters high, making the whole structure 5 or 6 meters high, depending on where the height of the lowest pedestal was measured from (see the previous verse). Some scholars think this measurement does not refer to a third section, but is simply a summary of the overall height of the altar (for example, “So the hearth was four cubits high”). Since this interpretation does not take into account the lowest pedestal and the figures do not add up, it is better to follow the first suggestion.

And from the altar hearth projecting upward, four horns, one cubit high: The four horns were “projections” (Good News Translation), “knobs” (Moffatt) or posts possibly shaped “like the horns of a bull” (Contemporary English Version), which were at the four corners of the top of the altar. From the altar hearth projecting upward means the horn-shaped corners extended above the level of the fire place, but we do not know by how far. Revised Standard Version says one cubit high, which follows the Septuagint, not the Hebrew text. We do not recommend adding this phrase (so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project).

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 .