gentiles / nations

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).

Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).

In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also nations.

complete verse (Numbers 23:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 23:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “I see those people at a distance from the top of a rock,
    I see them while I am on a hill.
    I see a community set aside for God
    and different from other nations.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I see them from a great rock, from a peak,
    I watch them from a high mountain top.
    They (emph.) are a nation that lives separately.
    They tend to consider themselves as separate from others.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When I was there on the top of the mountains, I saw them. They live just by-themselves, who were-separated from other nations.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I have seen them from the tops of the rocky peaks.
    I see that they are a group of people who live by themselves;
    they have separated themselves from other nations.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 23:9

For from the top of the mountains I see him, from the hills I behold him: In this context the Hebrew particle ki rendered For is not a logical connector, but an emphatic marker, so it is better translated “Yes” (La Bible de Jérusalem Nouvelle) or “Indeed.” Alternatively, it can be understood to introduce a temporal clause; for example, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh renders these two parallel lines as follows: “As I see them from the mountain tops, Gaze on them from the heights” (similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Good News Translation omits this particle, but it should be kept. The Hebrew word for mountains is literally “rocks,” but in this poetic context it refers to “high rocks” (Good News Translation) or “rocky cliffs.” The pronoun him refers to the people of Israel. In many languages it will be more natural to use the plural pronoun “them” (Good News Translation).

Lo, a people dwelling alone: The Hebrew word rendered lo (hen) is another emphatic marker. It highlights what Balaam sees, probably in both a visual and visionary sense. New International Version, Revised English Bible, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible render it “I see.” The clause a people dwelling alone refers not so much to the Israelites’ physical isolation, but rather to the special status they enjoy as God’s chosen people (so Ashley, page 471).

And not reckoning itself among the nations: Since this line is parallel in meaning with the previous one, it does not imply that the Israelites consider themselves too small to be a nation. Instead, they consider themselves to be unique as God’s people (so NET Bible footnote). The Hebrew noun for nations (goyim) refers to nations other than Israel. Revised English Bible provides a helpful model for the last two lines of this verse, saying “I see a people that dwells apart, that has not made itself one with the nations.” Bible en français courant is also helpful with “it is a people who lives apart, it knows itself to be different from other nations” (similarly Parole de Vie). We do not recommend Good News Translation‘s model here since it does not keep these two lines parallel in meaning.

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 .