complete verse (Numbers 6:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 6:18:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then the person shall shave his hair there in the courtyard of the Tent of God and throw it in the fire where the fellowship offering is burning.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “’After that the Nazirite, staying at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting will shave his hair has been dedicated, and then he will have to put it in the fire that is under the peace offering. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘Then, the Nazirite will-have his hair shave — off that symbolizes of his dedication of his life to the LORD, there at the entrance of the Meeting-Together-Place Tent. He then will-burn this on the fire which is the place-of-burning the offering for a good relation.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘After that, you must stand at the entrance of the Sacred Tent and shave off your hair. Then you must put that hair in the fire that is under the animal that has been sacrificed on the altar to maintain fellowship with me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 6:18

Verse 18 returns to what the Nazirite should do. Here it refers to the ritual shaving of his or her hair.

And the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tent of meeting: For shave his consecrated head, see verse 9; for the door of the tent of meeting, see verse 10.

And shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering: After the Nazirites have shaved off their hair, they must place it on the fire that burns the fellowship offering. For peace offering, see verse 14. Revised Standard Version‘s literal rendering says the Nazirites must put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering, which may be confusing. Good News Translation is clearer with “put it on the fire on which the fellowship offering is being burned.” Another possible model is “burn it [the hair] with the fire that consumes/destroys the fellowship offering.” There is a slight problem here since only part of the fellowship offering was burned; the next two verses make it clear that other parts of this offering were given to the priest to eat (see also Lev 7.31-38). Translators can deal with this difficulty here by saying “burn it [the hair] together with that part of the fellowship sacrifice that must be burned.”

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 .