into the open field

The Hebrew in Leviticus 14:7 that is translated as “into the open field” or similar in English is translated in Kwere as “outside the camp.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

leprosy, leprous

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The Greek and Hebrew terms that are often translated as “leprosy (or: defiling/skin disease)” or “leprous (person)” in English is translated in Mairasi as “the bad sickness,” since “leprosy is very common in the Mairasi area” (source: Enggavoter 2004).

Following are various other translations:

  • Shilluk: “disease of animals”
  • San Mateo Del Mar Huave: “devil sore” (this and the above are indigenous expressions)
  • Inupiaq: “decaying sores”
  • Kaqchikel: “skin-rotting disease” (source for this and three above: Eugene Nida in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 34f. )
  • Noongar: “bad skin disease” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Usila Chinantec “sickness like mal de pinta” (a skin disease involving discoloration by loss of pigment) (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Hiligaynon: “dangerous skin disease” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “fearful skin disease” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “terrible rotting” (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Newari: “infectious skin disease” (source: Newari Back Translation)

Targumim (or: Targums) are translations of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic. They were translated and used when Jewish congregations increasingly could not understand the biblical Hebrew anymore. Targum Onqelos (also: Onkelos) is the name of the Aramaic translation of the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) probably composed in Israel/Palestine in the 1st or 2nd century CE and later edited in Babylon in the 4th or 5th century, making it reflect Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. It is the most famous Aramaic translation and was widely used throughout the Jewish communities. In Leviticus 13 and 14 it translates tzaraat as a “quarantining affliction” — focusing “on what occurs to individuals after they suffer the affliction; the person is isolated from the community.” (Source: Israel Drazin in this article ). Similarly, the English Jewish Orthodox ArtScroll Tanach translation (publ. 2011) transliterates it as tzaraat affliction.

See also stricken and leprosy healed.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Leprosy (Word Study) and Bible Translations Are for People .

sparrow

While the Greek word strouthion is certainly the name for the sparrow, the Hebrew tsippor is actually an inclusive word that refers to sparrow-sized birds in general. These small birds, especially sparrows, were caught in nets and traps and were an important part of the diet of poor people.

There are three types of sparrow that are common in Israel, the House Sparrow Passer domesticus, the Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis, and the Dead Sea Sparrow Passer moabiticus. All three are small speckled brown birds. Additional small birds that abound around towns and settlements are members of the bunting, finch, and tit families. Sparrows in particular are usually found in fairly large numbers roosting and nesting together. All are seed eaters and live mainly on grass seeds and grain.

Sparrows were considered clean birds and were associated with the poor.

Sparrows or sparrow-like small birds are found all over the world. Finding a local word is not usually difficult. The reference to “a lonely bird on the housetop” in Psalms 102:7 takes on additional meaning if the sparrow was intended, since it is a bird that is seldom seen alone. It would then indicate the psalmist’s sense of loneliness at being separated from those with whom he belongs.

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Leviticus 14:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 14:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “He shall then sprinkle the blood seven times on the person to be cleansed and pronounce that the person has been cleansed and let the bird that is alive fly away.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “He must sprinkle it on the sick person seven times and then pronounce them clean. [He] must then release the remaining bird into an open field.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And the water which has blood he is-to-sprinkle seven times on the person who has-been-healed from the dangerous disease on the skin, and he will-let-it-be-known/will-pronounce that that-same person (is) now clean. Then the priest will- let- that living bird -go-free/be-released.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then he must sprinkle some of the blood on the person who was healed; he must sprinkle it on him seven times. Then he will declare that the person is permitted to be with other people again. And the priest will release the other bird and allow it to fly away.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 14:7

Seven times: see 4.6.

Upon him who is to be cleansed: it will be better to use a simpler and more natural expression in a number of languages. One may consider “the person who had been healed,” or “the person who used to have the skin disease,” or “the person about to be declared clean.” But Wenham’s suggestion, “who is being cleansed,” may be better. It emphasizes the ongoing character of the process. This phrase is repeated in verses 7, 8, and 14. Compare the translation of the same expression in verse 4, where Good News Translation leaves it implicit. Some other possible models are “… on the person needing cleansing” or “… on the person whose leprosy healed.”

Into the open field: this expression simply means that the bird is allowed to go free and fly wherever it wishes. It does not imply that the priest attempts to guide the freed bird in any particular direction. In some languages it may be better to say simply “let the living (remaining) bird go free.”

He shall pronounce him clean: this is actually only the first step in the process of purification. The following verses indicate that there are other steps necessary before the person is completely accepted by the community.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .