The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “corn”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).
Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “millet” (Lambya) (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), “food” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sell” in English is translated in Noongar as wort-bangal or “away-barter.” Note that “buy” is translated as bangal-barranga or “get-barter.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
This verse illustrates what it means to be generous or greedy in verses 24-25. The saying presupposes a scarcity of grain due to poor harvests. See the case of Joseph in Egypt in Gen 41.
“The people curse him who holds back grain”: “Curse” means to speak badly against someone. In this context we are not dealing with a “curse” placed on someone as a form of punishment; the sense here is that people say bad things to and about the offender. “Holds back grain” refers to the grain merchant or farmer who hoards grain waiting for a higher price. Note how Good News Translation has made “waiting for a higher price” a part of its text. “Grain” renders a word that refers to wheat but is also used generally for cereals or grass seeds that are eaten by people. If wheat is not known, a more general term for grain may be used. If no grains are grown or known locally, you may need to speak of “food” or “crops.”
“But a blessing is on the head of him who sells it”: “Blessing” is the opposite of “curse” and means here to speak well of or to praise. “Head” in the expression “on the head” is the use of part of the body to represent a whole person and so the sense is “him” or better “the person who.” “Sells it” indicates that the person sells his grain when there is a shortage instead of withholding it from the market while waiting for the price to go up.
We may translate this verse, for example, “People will say bad things about a merchant who hoards grain waiting for a higher price, but they will speak well of the one who puts his grain up for sale. “If a person keeps his food at a time when people want to buy it, they will say bad things about him, but if someone lets people buy food from him, they will be happy with him.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 11:26:
Kupsabiny: “Cursed is a person who hides food/crops that ought to be sold, but blessed is the one who accepts to sell his.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Whoever hoards [Lit.: hides] grain, everyone will curse him, Whoever gives out grain, [everyone] will bless him.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “People curse the-one-who keeps his something-for-sale in-order to sell it when the price is now high, but people praises the one-who does- not -keep.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “If you store-away pounded-rice so that you (sing.) will then make-very-expensive its price, they will curse you (sing.), but if you (sing.) sell (it) at its proper value, they will praise you (sing.).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “People curse/despise someone who hoards his grain and does not sell it, waiting to get a higher/bigger price for it, but they praise someone who sells it when people need it, even when the price is not high.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:
26a People will cursethe hoarder of grain,
26b but blessing will crownthe one who sells it.
11:26a–b
The people will curse…but blessing will crown: The word that the Berean Standard Bible and other versions translate as curse normally means to invoke a bad result on someone. The parallel expression, blessing will crown, is literally “a blessing for the head of.” In this phrase, “head” refers figuratively to the whole person.
In this context, it is probable that curse and blessing do not refer to ritual or formal pronouncements of cursing or blessing. Instead, they probably mean that people say bad things about the person who hoards his grain. They praise or say good things about the person who is willing to sell it.
the hoarder of grain…the one who sells it: This proverb assumes that there is a shortage of grain. In such a situation, the phrase hoarder of grain indicates someone who refuses to sell his grain at the normal price when people want to buy it. Instead, he stores it so that he can sell it later at a much higher price. The parallel phrase the one who sells it refers to a person who is willing to sell his grain at a reasonable price. He does not store it in order to get a higher price later on.
Some versions make explicit the implied purpose for hoarding grain. It also makes explicit the implied situation or period of time for selling grain. For example:
People curse those who hold their grain for higher prices, but they bless the one who sells to them in their time of need. (New Living Translation (1996))
You may need to make some of this information explicit in your language to help your readers understand the context of hoarding and selling.
11:26a
grain: The word grain refers specifically to threshed grain, probably wheat. It may also refer more broadly to any kind of grain, vegetable, or fruit crop. In languages that do not have a word for wheat, some other ways to translate this word are:
• Use the word for another grain crop, such as rice.
• Use a more general term, such as “crop” or “what is harvested.”
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