complete verse (Ezra 1:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezra 1:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “The things that Cyrus removed/took out are these: 30 basins made from gold, 1,000 basins made from silver, 29 knives made of silver,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “This is the list —
    30 gold plates
    1000 silver plates
    29 large-mouthed bowls.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:

    These were the counted things-for-use:

    golden platters/large-dishes 30
    silver platters/large-dishes 1,000
    knives 29
    golden bowls 30
    silver bowls 410
    other (utensils)/[lit. things-for-use] 1,000

    (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

  • English: “This is a list of the items that Cyrus donated:
    30 large gold dishes
    1,000 large silver dishes
    29 silver censers/incense burning pans” (Source: Translation for Translators)

large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.

Translation commentary on Ezra 1:9 - 1:10

The number of them refers to the list or the inventory of objects that were given to Sheshbazzar to take back for the Temple in Jerusalem. They included basins, censers, bowls, and miscellaneous vessels. The Hebrew words for these vessels are hapax legomena (see “Translating Ezra and Nehemiah,” page 22); that is, they are words that are found only here, and it is uncertain what they mean. For example, censers in Revised Standard Version is translated “knives” in some translations, following the Vulgate (so New Revised Standard Version, Bible en français courant, Nouvelle Bible Segond, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports a reading with vowels that give the meaning “altered” or “changed” vessels with a C rating and is the basis for the translation “repaired” in others (New Jerusalem Bible). Since it is uncertain what kind of vessel is meant, the translation of Good News Translation “other bowls” is recommended. The terms used in the Revised Standard Version translation are the traditional ones. Other translations distinguish the objects by size and shape; for example, “plates” (Chouraqui) or “large dishes” (Contemporary English Version) for basins, “pans” (Chouraqui, New International Version) for censers, and “cups” (Nouvelle version Segond révisée) for bowls. The types of vessels in the Temple are known from other passages such as 2 Kgs 25.14-15.

The quantity of items listed in Revised Standard Version is different from the quantity given in Good News Translation. There seems to have been a corruption in the text in its transmission. Various amendments have been suggested for reading the Hebrew text, but no solution has been found for the difference between the number of vessels listed in these verses and the sum total given in the next verse. Revised Standard Version has followed the Greek 1 Esdras with a thousand basins of gold in place of “thirty gold basins” and two thousand four hundred and ten bowls of silver in place of “four hundred and ten other [or, spare] silver bowls” with a total of “five thousand four hundred and sixty-nine” in order to solve the problem, but the different numbers found in 1 Esdras were probably an attempt to correct the problem in the Hebrew text. Translators should follow the Hebrew text as Good News Translation has done (also New International Version, Revised English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). This is supported by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project with a B rating.

Translators must decide how the inventory will be presented in the text and how the numbers will be written. Everything can be written out fully as Revised Standard Version has done, or the list can be set in two columns as in Good News Translation with the quantities presented in numeral form, or the translator may list the items and after each item place the numeral (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). A format that is consistent with what is used by translators for lists in other books of the Bible should be used here.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Ezra. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .