The Hebrew in Genesis 15:15 that is translated as “buried in a good old age” in English is translated in Nyamwezi as u’lazyi’kwe visoga or “buried well,” an idiom that means one has died having lived a good/fulfilling life. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
peace (inner peace)
The Hebrew and Greek that is usually translated into English as “peace,” when referring to one’s inner peace, is (back-) translated with a variety of idioms and phrases:
- “a song in the body” (Baoulé — see also joy)
- “heart coolness” (Eastern Maninkakan / Moronene) / “inner coolness” (Binumarien) (source for Moronene: David Andersen; Binumarien: Oates 1995, p. 249)
- “coolness” (Pular / Kutu) (source for Kutu: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
- “sit down in the heart” (South Bolivian Quechua) / “my heart sits down” (Northern Grebo)
- “rest the heart” (Central Mazahua) / “rest within” (Lacandon) (source: Nida 1952, p. 40 and 128ff.) / “wait well in your heart” (Yatzachi Zapotec) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- “quietness of heart” (Chol)
- “kobe (= the abdominal region, including the heart) quiet” (Warao) (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. )
- “have a quiet mind” (Ngäbere)
- “heart will lie quietly” (Isthmus Zapotec)
- “live quietly” (Central Tarahumara) (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- “quiet goodness” (Kekchí)
- “goodness of life” (Uma) (source: Uma Back Translation)
- “strength of heart” (Highland Puebla Nahuatl)
- “leaning on the liver” (Kare)
- “sweet insides” (Shilluk)
- “evenness” (Toraja-Sa’dan)
- “having your hearts feel oneness for one another” (Tzeltal)
- “have one heart” (Miskito)
- “well-arranged soul” (Mashco Piro)
- “completeness” (Highland Puebla Nahuatl) (source for this and two above: Nida 1952, p. 128ff.)
- “stomach flat in” (“one’s stomach sticks out when one is upset”) (Kimyal) (source: Young 2022)
- “joy in heart” (Eastern Highland Otomi) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- “have security in your heart” (Highland Totonac) (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- “smooth interior” (Bariai) (source: Bariai Back Translation)
- tangnefedd — “an internal condition that makes external peace (heddwch) possible” (Welsh) (source: Rosa Hunt in Journal of European Baptist Studies 1/23 (2023), p. 1ff. ) (source for all non-attributed translations: Bratcher / Nida)
In American Sign Language it is signed with a compound sign consisting of “become” and “silent.” (Source: Yates 2011, p. 52)
“Peace” in American Sign Language (source )
See also peace (absence of strife) and this devotion on YouVersion and this one on Bible Gateway .
go to your fathers (ancestors) in peace
The Hebrew in Genesis 15:15 that is translated as “go to your fathers (or: ancestors) in peace” in English is translated in Western Lawa as “die a delicious death.”
complete verse (Genesis 15:15)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 15:15:
- Kankanaey: “But it will nevertheless go to the fourth generation (lit. three-times of the offspring), then they will return to this country, so-that meanwhile the sinfulness of the Amorreo who inhabit here will-become-worse and it will-be-necessary that I punish them. That is what will happen to your (sing.) descendants, but as for you (sing.), you (sing.) will-become-very-old, then you (sing.) will die and they will bury you (sing.). Be-assured that (lit. reassurance/comfort particle) you (sing.) will not attain that difficulty,’ God said.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Newari: “You will just go with joy to live in the place of your ancestors. After you become a sufficiently old man, you will be buried.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “But concerning you (sing.) Abram, I will-prolong your (sing.) life and you will-die in old-age with peace.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- English: “But as for you, you will die peacefully when you are very old.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Translation commentary on Genesis 15:15
Before completing the prophecy of the return of the people to Canaan, verse 15 assures Abram of his own future, including his death and burial.
As for yourself: this expression shifts the focus from Abram’s descendants in the distant future to Abram himself in the nearer future. Good News Translation and some other English translations mark this shift with the pronoun “yourself.” In some other languages this shift is stated more fully; for example, “speaking now about you,” “but your story is like this,” or “this is what will happen to you….”
Go to your fathers in peace: this expression is not to be taken literally to mean that Abram’s body would be returned at death to Ur in Babylonia or to Haran, but to be taken as a figurative expression meaning to die. A parallel expression “gathered to his people” is used in Gen 25.8. The nonfigurative form is used in Job 5.26.
In peace: this is the first use of the term shalom in Genesis. As Speiser says, “The emphasis is on security, satisfaction or fulfillment; in other words here ‘in peace of mind, untroubled.’ ” This thought is commonly translated in some languages by idiomatic expressions; for example, “with a cool heart,” “with a quiet innermost.”
You shall be buried: or “they will bury you.”
In a good old age refers not merely to living a great many years but rather to living happily to an advanced age, that is, to die a happy old man. See also Gen 25.8; Judges 8.32; 1 Chr 29.28.
Translators should note how Good News Translation has rearranged the order of the events in verse 15 so that they follow the order in which they happen: “Live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried.” Bible en français courant offers another possibility: “You will die in peace, and you will be buried after a happy old age.”
In some languages this verse may be translated in some such manner as follows: “This is what will happen to you: you will live happily until you have only one hair left. Then you will close your eyes forever with a cool heart, and they will bury you in the ground.” A Pacific translation says this: “You will live for a long time until you are very old, and then you will die with a quiet mind, and they will give you a good burial.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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