3In the first year of his reign, King Cyrus issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices are offered and burnt offerings are brought; its height shall be sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits,
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).
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
The concepts of distance that are translated in English with “long,” “wide,” and “high/tall” are translated in Kwere with one word: utali. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezra 6:3:
Kupsabiny: “In the first year of king Cyrus, the king gave authority concerning the construction of the House of God in Jerusalem. To lay the foundation and build again where they offer sacrifices that are completely burnt and all other sacrifices. That house must have a height of 90ft and width of 90ft.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “In the first year of King Cyrus, the King issued a decree letter concerning the temple of Jerusalem. This is the decree — The temple of Jerusalem must be rebuilt in original place to sacrifice burnt offerings and to offer animal sacrifices, and its original foundations must be kept. This must be 30 meters high and [it must] have a width of 30 meters.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘This record reminds that the first year of the reign of Cyrus, he commanded to build again the temple of God in Jerusalem where the offerings are-to-be-offered. Its foundation should be-strong/solid. And its height should be 90 feet and its width should also be 90 feet.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘During the first year that Cyrus ruled the empire, he sent out a decree concerning the temple of God which is at Jerusalem. In the decree it was stated that a new temple must be built at the same place that the Israeli people previously had offered sacrifices, where the original foundation of the first temple was. The temple must be 90 feet high and 90 feet wide.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: The first part of this verse is an introduction to the actual decree. In the form and style of an official document, the time when the decree was issued is specified. It was In the first year of King Cyrus’s reign (see Ezra 1.1). The document refers to the king twice by saying literally “In year one of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree.” While some versions repeat the Aramaic sentence structure as Revised Standard Version has done (also New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), it is preferable to adapt the structure to a natural style for an official document in the receptor language, as Good News Translation and New Revised Standard Version have done in English.
The text of the edict begins in the middle of the verse and continues through verse 5. This is the Aramaic version of the decree given in Hebrew in Ezra 1.2-4. This record may have been part of a longer document with instructions to rebuild temples throughout the empire. Revised Standard Version represents the actual words of the decree, while Good News Translation restructures in the style of indirect quotation. Translators should follow whichever pattern is more natural in their language.
Cyrus had the temples of other peoples rebuilt and their images returned to them so that prayer might be offered in them on his behalf. This information was recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder (see Ezra 5.17). Instead of the images that were returned to other temples, the place where sacrifices are offered is mentioned in relation to the house of God at Jerusalem.
Sacrifices: The Aramaic word used here is a general term for sacrifices. It does not specify what is sacrificed or how the sacrifices are performed, but in the context of the Temple in Jerusalem, it implies the killing of an animal or bird by a priest as a sacrificial offering to God. If a general term exists in the receptor language, that word may be used, but terms that refer to very culture-specific religious practices should be avoided. The translator may need to use a descriptive phrase, such as “gifts that are killed and offered to God.” Translators may refer to A Handbook on Leviticus, page 5, for a chart of the types of sacrifices performed by the people of Israel.
Burnt offerings are brought: See the comments on Ezra 3.2 for burnt offerings. Instead of the clause burnt offerings are brought, the Aramaic text reads “let its foundations be restored.” The translation in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is from the parallel passage in 1 Esdras 6.24. However, the Aramaic text makes good sense and refers to the restoring of the foundations in Ezra 5.16. It should be followed by the translator as New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and others have done. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives this reading a B rating. If Revised Standard Version is followed, translators should include a footnote to explain the textual problem.
Its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits: The dimensions of the Temple are given as part of the decree. This is to limit the cost of the rebuilding that is to be paid for “from the royal treasury” (see verse 4 below). According to King Darius, these funds are to come from the taxes collected in the province Beyond the River (see verse 8 below). The dimensions here are incomplete since the length of the Temple is not specified. Because the Temple was to be rebuilt on the foundations of Solomon’s Temple, the length was sixty cubits and the width was twenty cubits (see 1 Kgs 6.2). The dimensions given here with the height of sixty cubits may have visualized this Temple to be a perfect cube like the inner sanctuary of the first Temple (see 1 Kgs 6.20). Solomon’s Temple was only thirty cubits high.
A cubit was a measure of length that was roughly equivalent to the length of a person’s arm from the elbow to the wrist. This is about 45 centimeters or 18 inches. Sixty cubits equals about 90 feet (Good News Translation). Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch use the approximate equivalent of 30 meters, while the British edition of Good News Translation is more precise in saying 27 meters. Translators may use an equivalent measure of distance in the receptor culture, or they may borrow a modern measure such as feet or meters, as many common language translations have done. However, they should be careful not to create an anachronism by introducing a modern concept that appears out of place in the historical context of the book of Ezra. Numbers in the Bible are often symbolic. The translator is encouraged to use round numbers here that give a picture of harmony and balance (for example, 30 by 30, 60 by 60, or 90 by 90).
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 .
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