mercy seat

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “mercy seat” or similar in English is translated by the interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) as or “the cover of that box which was the place for forgiving sins upon.” (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 110)

cubit

The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek that is translated as “cubit” or into a metric or imperial measurement in English is translated in Kutu, Kwere, and Nyamwezi as makono or “armlength.” Since a cubit is the measurement from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, one armlength (measured from the center of the chest to the fingertips) equals two cubits or roughly 1 meter. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In Klao it is converted into “hand spans” (app. 6 inches or 12 cm) and “finger spans” (app. 1 inch or 2 cm) (Source: Don Slager)

Translation commentary on Exod 25:17

Then represents the conjunction waw (“and”), but it may be omitted. You shall make a mercy seat is literally “you [singular] shall make a kapporeth.” The word probably comes from the verb kipper, which means “to cover over” in the sense of covering over, or atoning for, sins. So it really has the double meaning of “cover” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) and “atonement.” (See the comment on “atonement” at 29.33.) New International Version calls it “an atonement cover,” and Fox uses the term “purgation-cover.” Others prefer to call it a “propitiatory,” meaning a place for making atonement. In verse 22 (see also Lev 16.2) we are told that the space just above the kapporeth and between the cherubim is where the LORD will appear to Moses or to the high priest. Here, however, it is probably best to translate it simply as the “cover,” or “lid,” for the “Covenant Box,” but a footnote explaining this double meaning may be helpful to the reader. (Mercy seat, the traditional English rendering, probably originated from Martin Luther‘s German translation of kapporeth as Gnadenstuhl.)

Of pure gold suggests not only that was it “clean” but also that it was heavy. Two cubits and a half shall be its length means that it was “45 inches long” (Good News Translation), or “110 centimeters.” And a cubit and a half its breadth means that it was “27 inches wide,” or “66 centimeters.” Note that this is the exact size of the “Covenant Box.” The thickness of the cover, however, is not indicated.

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 .