chariot

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated into English as “chariot” is translated into Anuak as “canoe pulled by horse.” “Canoe” is the general term for “vehicle” (source: Loren Bliese). Similarly it is translated in Lokạạ as ukwaa wạ nyanyang ntuuli or “canoe that is driven by horses.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

In Eastern Highland Otomi it’s translated as “cart pulled by horses” (source: Larson 1998, p. 98) and in Chichicapan Zapotec as “ox cart” (in Acts 8). Ox carts are common vehicles for travel. (Source: Loren Bliese)

In Chichimeca-Jonaz, it is translated as “little house with two feet pulled by two horses” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.) and in the Hausa Common Language Ajami Bible as keken-doki or “cart of donkey” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

It is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:

Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

See also cart.

Translation commentary on Exod 14:23

The Egyptians refers to all those who were chasing after the Israelites. Pursued is the same word as verse 8. And went in after them is literally “and they entered after them.” What they entered, of course, was the seabed and not the water, for the water had been driven back (verse 21). Into the midst of the sea means the middle of the sea area. However, in languages that will have a problem translating this phrase, especially when the term for sea indicates an area always filled with water, it is possible to simply say “went after them,” with the implicit assumption that the Egyptians pursued the Israelites along the path between the walls of water. So Contemporary English Version has “The Egyptian chariots and cavalry went after them.”

All Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen are the same terms used in verses 9 and 18.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• All the Egyptian chariots and the cavalry [or, soldiers riding horses] chased after the Israelites.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .