plague

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “plague” in English is translated in Bariai as “killing-off” (source: Bariai Back Translation).

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as Katastrophe or Katastrophenschlag, i.e. “disaster” or “disastrous strike.”

complete verse (Numbers 25:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 25:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “Phinehas followed that man who was with that girl to the tent and killed both of them with the spear passing through (them).
    God had sent to the people of Israel a plague which had killed up to twenty-four thousand people. When Phinehas had killed both those people, the plague subsided.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “In that plague 24,000 people died.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “but 24,000 were-killed because of the destruction.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But 24,000 people had already died from that plague.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 25:9

Nevertheless those that died by the plague were twenty-four thousand is literally “And those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.” The Hebrew text gives a summary here, without indicating any contrast with the preceding verse, so the Hebrew waw conjunction at the beginning of this verse should not be rendered Nevertheless or “but” (Good News Translation). Verse 9 concludes this episode of the narrative (verses 4-9), even as it prepares the way for the next one (verses 10-15).

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 .