horn

The musical instrument that is most often translated as “(ram’s) horn” or “trumpet” in English is translated in the following ways:

  • Yakan: tabuli’ (big sea shell used to give signals) (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Mairasi / Bariai: “Triton shell trumpet” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • German Luther translation: Posaune, today: “trombone,” originally with the meaning of a wind instrument made from cow horn (from Latin bucina [bovi- / “cow” + the root of cano / “sing”]. Incidentally, bucina is also used in the Latin Vulgate translation). By the time of Luther’s translation it referred to the natural trumpet or a fanfare trumpet (see also trumpet). Once the meaning morphed to “trombone” in the 19th century, trombone ensembles started to play a central role in Protestant German churches and do so to the present day. In 2016, “Posaunenchöre” became added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list . (Note that Exodus 19:13 is the only exception in the Luther Bible. From the 1956 revision on, Widderhorn or “ram’s horn” is used here) (source: Zetzsche)

In the UBS Helps for Translators‘ Human-made Things in the Bible (original title: The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible) it says the following:

Description: The horn was a wind instrument made from the horn of an animal, usually a male sheep.

Usage: The animal horn was softened so that it could be shaped. The point of the horn was cut off to leave a small opening through which the user blew. The vibration of the lips produced the sound.

The ram’s horn served two general purposes:

1. It was blown in certain religious contexts, not as musical accompaniment to worship but as a signal for important events. Some of these events were the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, the Day of Atonement, the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, and the coronation of kings.

2. It also served as a signal or alarm when war was approaching. Such references are particularly common in the prophetic books, when the prophets are calling the people to repent (Hosea 5:8; 8:1; Joel 2:1; 2:15; Amos 3:6).

Translation: In many passages the purpose of the ram’s horn called shofar in Hebrew was to sound an alarm. This will be easy to express in those cultures where the horns of animals are used as musical instruments to give signals to large groups of people. In other cultures it may be possible to find another instrument that is used for an equivalent purpose. In some languages, for example, instruments such as bells or drums are the warnings for war. Some translations have transliterated the word shofar. Unless the instrument is well known, such a borrowing should normally be accompanied by a footnote or a glossary entry.

In some passages it will be necessary to expand the translation in order to indicate that the blowing of the ram’s horn was not just for music; for example, in Ezekiel 7:14 Contemporary English Version has “A signal has been blown on the trumpet,” and the German Contemporary English Version says “An alarm is sounded” [elsewhere, the same German version refers to the horns as Kriegshörner or “war horns.”]

Man blowing ram’s horn (source: Knowles, revised by Bass (c) British and Foreign Bible Society 1994)

Quoted with permission.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Neh 4:12)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai translation uses the exclusive pronoun, excluding the Jews who lived near.

complete verse (Nehemiah 4:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Nehemiah 4:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “The Jews who lived among those people used to come daily and say to us, ‘Those enemies will come from all directions and attack us.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The Jews who live near them always tell- us -a-news of their plan to attack.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But constantly the Judio who were their neighbors were coming to tell their evil intentions to us (excl.).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “The Jews who were living near our enemies came and told us many times, ‘You should leave the city and go to other places, in order that your enemies will not attack you!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Japanese benefactives (kīte)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

Here, kite (来て) or “come” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Nehemiah 4:12

As in verse 1 above, this verse begins with the Hebrew construction with the connective conjunction and the verb “to be,” but Revised Standard Version does not have an expression for it here. It is rendered “So it was” by New King James Version .

When the Jews who lived by them came they said to us ten times: The Jews who lived by them were those who lived near the borders of the territories of the peoples who were opposing the Jews. They have appealed to those in Jerusalem ten times, which is an expression that means “many times,” “time after time” (Good News Translation), or “a dozen times” (Revised English Bible).

The Hebrew text for this whole verse can be literally translated “And it happened when the Jews dwelling by them came and said to us ten times from all the places, ‘You should come back to us.’ ” With this translation the verse can be understood as an appeal by the Jews outside Jerusalem for those in Jerusalem to leave the city and return to the villages and country to avoid being attacked by their enemies. They make this appeal out of sympathy for the builders. This translation and interpretation is favored by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project (B rating) as making the most sense of a difficult text and providing a basis for the action of Nehemiah in the next verse. This interpretation should be followed by the translator. Otherwise, it should at least be recorded in a footnote as an alternative rendering. For “from all the places, ‘You should come back to us,’ ” the Septuagint has “They are coming against us from all places/sides.” New International Version has “Wherever you turn, they will attack us,” but this is based on an unprecedented understanding of the Hebrew word for “come back” (similarly New King James Version ). Many emendations have been suggested including they live for “You should come back” (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible; similarly New English Bible) and “plans which our enemies were making” in place of “places, ‘You should come back’ ” (Good News Translation; similarly Contemporary English Version). Neither of these conjectures has any textual evidence.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .