sackcloth

The Hebrew or Greek which are translated into English as “sackcloth” are rendered into Chamula Tzotzil as “sad-heart clothes.” (Source: Robert Bascom)

Pohnpeian and Chuukese translate it as “clothing-of sadness,” Eastern Highland Otomi uses “clothing that hurts,” Central Mazahua “that which is scratchy,” Tae’ and Zarma “rags” (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel), and Tangale as “torn clothes that show contrition on the body” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin). In the English translation by Goldingay (2018), “put on sackcloth” is translated as wrap on sack.

“In Turkana, a woman removes her normal everyday skin clothes and ornaments and wears rather poor skins during the time of mourning. The whole custom is known as ngiboro. It is very difficult to translate putting on sackcloth because even material like sacking is unfamiliar. The Haya, on the other hand, have a mourning cloth made out of the bark of a tree; and the use of this cloth is similar to the Jewish use of sackcloth. It was found that in both the Turkana and Ruhaya common language translations, their traditional mourning ceremonies were used.” (Source: Rachel Konyoro in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 221ff. )

Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing what a sackcloth looked like in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also mourning clothes and you have loosed my sackcloth.

complete verse (Ezekiel 7:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 7:18:

  • Kupsabiny: “They shall put on sacks and be terrified as shame has caught them and their heads shall be shaved.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They will-wear sack and they will-shave their heads to show their mourning. They will-be- very -afraid and put-to-shame.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They will put on clothes made from rough cloth, and they will be terrified. Their faces will show that they are ashamed, and they will shave their headsto show that they are very sad.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 7:18

They gird themselves with sackcloth means they will put on clothes made of rough material as a sign of grief. In ancient Israel people did this in times of national calamity as well as for personal mourning. Sackcloth was a coarse material of goat or camel hair. Some cultures have special clothing or other articles that are worn during times of mourning, or special ways of painting the body. If so, this expression may be adapted to fit the local customs. This clause may be rendered “To show their grief, they will put on clothing made from very rough cloth” or “They will put on mourning clothes.”

And horror covers them; shame is upon all faces, and baldness on all their heads: The picture of putting on clothes continues here, but now it is metaphorical. Horror covers them means they will tremble because of extreme fear. Shame is upon all faces means they will be ashamed of their sins. Translators may say “on their faces you will see how ashamed they are,” “their faces will show their shame,” or simply “they will be ashamed.” Baldness on all their heads means they all will shave their heads to show that they are in mourning. If it is difficult for a language to maintain the clothing metaphor in these three clauses, it is acceptable to say “They will tremble all over with fear. They will be very ashamed. They all will shave their heads to show that they are in mourning.”

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 .