quail

The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “quail” in English is translated in Elhomwe as ayuurwe. Ayuurwe are “small (like doves), wild birds which people catch to eat. These type of birds rot very quickly” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext). In Bariai they are translated as “bush hen” (source: Bariai Back Translation).

 

There is total agreement among versions and commentators that this is the Common Quail Coturnix coturnix. This bird existed in Egypt in enormous flocks numbering many millions for centuries, right up to the early part of the twentieth century. It was netted in enormous quantities, dried in the sun, and exported. The Egyptian bird has a rather limited migration route, going across the eastern side of Egypt to the Sinai, then southward into the Sudan. Other quails that migrate from southern Europe to Africa also cross the Sinai. It was during these migrations, when the birds fly only a few feet from the ground, that they were netted.

The common quail is a small brown bird streaked with white, the smallest of the game birds. It looks like a miniature partridge, with a small white patch beneath its beak, a white stripe above its eye, and another around its neck. The males have a black chest stripe above a chestnut-colored breast patch.

The quail is associated with God’s merciful provision during the Exodus from Egypt.

The common quail is found all over Africa, in southern and southeastern Europe, and in the Middle East. It is then found in a discontinuous band across mainland Asia to Japan. Other very similar species, the Harlequin Quail Coturnix delegorguei and the Chinese Quail Coturnix chinensis, are equally common in Africa and Asia respectively. The latter is also found in Australia, where it is called the king quail. In North America the California quail is well known. In other areas where the true quail is not known, a phrase such as small partridge can be used. The reference in Numbers 11:31, literally “two cubits high above the face of the earth”, should be interpreted as “they were flying about a meter 3 feet above the ground.” In the following verse, the text should be interpreted as “they spread them out on the ground,” that is, to dry in the sun.

Quail, Wikimedia Commons

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

See also quails, manna, and dew (image).

homer

The weight measure that is translated as “homer” or with a modern equivalent in English is translated in the 1989 Tsonga BIBELE Mahungu Lamanene into a measurement of a traditional container rather than weight: masaka or “bag.” (Source: The Bible Translator 1998, p. 215ff. )

See also cor.

complete verse (Numbers 11:32)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 11:32:

  • Kupsabiny: “People gathered quails until sunset, the next morning and the next day until sunset. The person who gathered least gathered twenty sacks. The quails were laid out to dry all over the camp.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “That whole day and that whole night, as well as the whole next day they gathered quail. The one who gathered the most bodies of all gathered 10 homers. They dried this meat in the sun all over the camp.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So on that entire day the people picked-up quails until the entire night, and still the following day. No one had-taken less than 30 sacks, and they dried them around the camp.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So the people went out and gathered up the quail all that day, and all that night, and all of the following day. It seemed as though everyone gathered at least 50 bushels! They spread the quail out on the ground all around the camp, so that the quail would dry out.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 11:32

And the people rose all that day, and all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails: The sequence of the time phrases all that day, and all night, and all the next day helps to give an impression of the great amount of birds that were collected. Contemporary English Version collapses these time phrases, saying simply “for two days,” which is not recommended. In many languages it will be more natural to put the verbs rose and gathered more closely together; for example, New International Version renders this sentence as “All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail.” Good News Translation renders gathered as “worked catching” because of its interpretation of the last phrase of the previous verse. If translators follow the other interpretation, it is better to say gathered or “picked up” (Contemporary English Version).

He who gathered least gathered ten homers: A homer was a large, dry measure. Estimates of its quantity vary, so a translation should not give the impression that an exact equivalent in liters or bushels can be given for ten homers. At the same time it should be clear that this amount of quails was enormous. The derivation of the Hebrew word for homer suggests that it originally indicated the quantity of grain which was carried by a donkey, so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling render ten homers as “ten donkey loads.” Another good rendering is “ten large baskets” (Contemporary English Version). Meaningless transliterations are not recommended.

And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp to let them “dry” (Good News Translation) as a means of preserving the meat, which was an Egyptian custom.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .