census

The Greek and Hebrew that is typically translated as “census” in English is translated in these ways:

family / clan / house

The Hebrew terms that are translated as “family” or “clan” or “house” or similar in English are all translated in Kwere as ng’holo or “clan.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as “kin-group.”

See also tribe.

complete verse (Numbers 4:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 4:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “‘Count also the house of Gershon according to their houses.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Count the Gershonites as well, according to their clans and families. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘Take-a-census also the descendants of Gershon according to their family.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Write down the names of all the men who belong to the clans descended from the Gershon division of the descendants of Levi.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 4:22 - 4:23

Take a census of the sons of Gershon also …: For Take a census, which is literally “Lift up the head,” see the comments on verse 2. The sons of Gershon refers to “the descendants of Gershon” (Bible en français courant).

By their families and their fathers’ houses: See the comments on verse 2. Good News Translation refers to the sons of Gershon as the “clan of Gershon,” so it has to say “by subclans and families” here. A better model for verse 3 is “Take a census of the descendants of Kohath by their clans and families.”

From thirty years old up to fifty years old may be rendered “between the ages of thirty and fifty” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version).

You shall number them: Number renders the Hebrew verb paqad (see the comments on 1.3). It is better translated “register” (Good News Translation), “enroll” (New Revised Standard Version), or “Record” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

All who can enter for service renders a similar Hebrew expression translated “all who can enter the service” in verse 3 (see the comments there). As there, this clause is better rendered “all who are subject to service” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) and “all who are eligible to service” (similarly New Living Translation).

To do the work in the tent of meeting: To do the work (literally “to serve/render service”) renders a different Hebrew phrase than the one used in verse 3 (see the comments there). The expression here focuses on submissive work. It seems to underscore the fact that the responsibilities of the Gershonites were indeed less central and perhaps more subordinate than those of the Kohathites. For the tent of meeting, see 1.1.

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 .