cattle, livestock

The Hebrew that is translated in English as “livestock” (or “cattle”) is translated in Newari as “living beings brought up in a house” or “living beings cared for in a house” (source: Newari Back Translation). Specifically “cattle” is “cows and oxen.”

In Kwere it is “animals that are being kept.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Canaan

The term that is transliterated as “Canaan” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the sign loosely referencing the act of hiding/covering one’s face in shame. The association of “shame” with the name “Canaan” comes from Genesis 9, specifically verse 9:25. This sign was adapted from a similar sign in Kenyan Sign Language (see here). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Canaan” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Canaan in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

complete verse (Joshua 21:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 21:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “They said, ‘God told Moses that we should be given cities for us to live in and where we can graze our animals.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “at Shiloh in Canaan and they spoke like this, "The LORD has given you instructions through Moses to give us cities to live in with space around them for grazing our cattle."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “there at Shilo in the land of Canaan. They said, ‘The LORD commanded through Moises that we (excl.) would-be-given the towns/cities where we (excl.) will-live and pasturelands for our (excl.) animals.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “While Eleazar the Supreme Priest and Joshua and the leaders of all the Israeli tribes were at Shiloh, the leaders of the clans of the tribe of Levi went to them and said, ‘Yahweh commanded Moses that you should give us towns where we can have pasture/fields/grassland for our animals, but you have not done these things yet.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 21:1 - 21:2

The same people who had been responsible for assigning the western tribes their territory are responsible for assigning the cities to the Levites: Eleazar, Joshua, and the tribal leaders (see 19.51). They use the same process, that of drawing lots, and it is done in the same place, Shiloh (see 18.1).

The reference to the instructions given to Moses is to be found in Numbers 35.1-8, where it is specified that the Levites be assigned the six cities of refuge plus forty-two other cities, a total of forty-eight.

By translating verses 1-2 as a unit, it is possible to remove some of the repetition and reorder certain of the phrases:

• When the people of Israel were camped near the city of Shiloh in the land of Canaan, the leaders of the Levite families went to Eleazar the priest, Joshua, and to the heads of the families of all of the tribes of Israel, and said …

Or the sentence may be divided into two sentences, with the indirect discourse of Good News Translation changed to direct discourse:

• The people of Israel were now camped near the city of Shiloh in the land of Canaan. While they were there, the leaders of the Levite families went to Eleazar the priest, Joshua, and to the heads of the families of all the tribes of Israel, and said, “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Give the Levites cities to live in, and give them the pasture land around the cities for their livestock.’ ”

In some languages the shift to direct discourse for the Lord’s words to Moses may require a time marker or verb tense which indicates that this event had happened some time ago.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .