grain

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “corn”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).

Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “millet” (Lambya) (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), “food” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

complete verse (Joel 1:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joel 1:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “The seeds died/got lost on top of the soil.
    The granaries remained without food.
    The granaries were not prepared
    because the crops did not produce (food).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The seeds are shriveled up under the dry earth,
    the storehouses have been destroyed,
    the granaries have vanished,
    because all the grain has dried up.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The seeds-for-planting have-died in the ground. And because the grains have-shriveled, the storehouses have-nothing inside now, therefore these were- just -destroyed now.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Joel 1:17

It may be useful in some languages to continue verses 17 and 18 as rhetorical questions, following the pattern of verse 16.

Verse 17 has a chiastic pattern. The first and fourth lines are similar, as are the second and third lines. Most languages will restructure this verse into two or three related statements (so Good News Translation).

The seed shrivels under the clods: The Hebrew words for seed and clods occur only here in the Old Testament, and their meaning is uncertain. The Septuagint translates from another form of the Hebrew text for this line, saying “The calves stamp at their stalls,” but it seems better to follow the text of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. New English Bible says “The soil is parched, the dykes are dry.” However, “soil” and “dykes” are meanings that are not widely accepted, and “are dry” is based on a suggested change in the Hebrew text that few have followed.

The first line may mean that the seeds were planted in moist soil and began to grow, but then dried up. Or it may mean that the seeds were planted in dry ground, but no moisture came at the expected season of rain (so Good News Translation). It may also mean that the sown fields had to be plowed up in anticipation of the next period of rain, and the seed thus destroyed. Any one of these alternatives is a valid possibility. De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling says “The seed rests in vain in the dried-up soil.”

The storehouses are desolate; the granaries are ruined because the grain has failed: Storehouses and granaries refer to the same thing, so Good News Translation uses one word. They were small structures, usually made of stone, for storing agricultural produce. With no harvest to store in them, they have fallen apart from disuse. Good News Translation restructures these lines to show the cause and effect in normal order: “There is no grain to be stored, and so the empty granaries are in ruins.”

Quoted with permission from de Blois, Kees & Dorn, Louis. A Handbook on Joel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .