cherub

Some key biblical terms that were directly transliterated from the Hebrew have ended up with unforeseen meanings in the lexicons of various recipient languages.

Take, for example, the English word “cherub,” from Hebrew “kĕrȗb.” Whereas the original Hebrew term meant something like “angelic being that is represented as part human, part animal” (…), the English word now means something like “a person, especially a child, with an innocent or chubby face.” Semantic shift has been conditioned in English by the Renaissance artistic tradition that portrayed cherubim in the guise of cute little Greek cupids. This development was of course impossible to foresee at the time when the first English translations borrowed this Hebrew word into the English Bible tradition, following the pattern of borrowing set by the Greek and Latin translations of the Old Testament.

In Russian, the semantic shift of this transliteration was somewhat different: the -îm ending of “kĕrūbîm,” originally signifying plurality in Hebrew, has been reanalyzed as merely the final part of the lexical item, so that the term херувим (kheruvim) in Russian is a singular count noun, not a plural one. (A similar degrammaticalization is seen in English writers who render the Hebrew plural kĕrūbîm as “cherubims.”) Apparently, this degrammaticalization of the Hebrew ending is what led the Russian Synodal translator of Genesis 3:24 to mistakenly render the Hebrew as saying that the Lord God placed a kheruvim (accusative masculine singular in Russian) to the east of the garden of Eden, instead of indicating a plural number of such beings. (Source: Vitaly Voinov in The Bible Translator 2012, p. 17ff.)

In Ngäbere the Hebrew that is translated in English as “cherub” is translated as “heavenly guard” (source: J. Loewen 1980, p. 107), in Nyamwezi as v’amalaika v’akelubi or “Cherubim-Angel” to add clarity, in Vidunda as “winged creature” (source for this and before: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext), and in Bura-Pabir as “good spirit with wings” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).

In Northern Pashto it is either translated as “heavenly creature” (Afghan Pashto Bible, publ. 2023) or “winged creature” (Holy Bible in Pakistani [Yousafzai] Pashto, publ. 2020) (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines “angel” and “spinning sword” (referring to Genesis 3:24):


“Cherub” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

See also seraph and ark of the covenant.

purple

The Greek that is translated as “purple” in English is translated as “blue-red” in Ojitlán Chinantec.

In Kasua was a little bit more involved, as Rachel Greco recalls (in The PNG Experience):

“The Kasua people of Western Province have no word for the color purple. They have words for many other colors: black, red, white, yellow, green, and blue, but not for the color of royalty.

“About nine New Testament passages mention people placing a purple robe on Jesus. The Kasua translation team always wanted to use the word ‘red,’ or keyalo, to describe the robe. Tommy, one of the translation team helpers, disagreed because this is not historically accurate or signifies the royalty of Jesus.

“One of the main rules of translation is that the team must stick to the historical facts when they translate a passage. If they don’t, then how can the readers trust what they’re reading is true? Other questions about truth could bubble in the reader’s minds about the Scriptures. For this reason, Tommy was not willing to change the word purple. So the team hung up the problem, hoping to revisit it later with more inspiration.

“God did not disappoint.

“Years later, Tommy hiked with some of the men near their village. They saw a tree that possessed bulbous growths growing on the side of it like fruit. These growths were ‘the most beautiful color of purple I’d ever seen,’ explained Tommy.

“’What is the name of this tree?’ Tommy asked the men.

“’This is an Okani tree,’ they replied.

“Tommy suggested, ‘Why don’t you, in those passages where we’ve been struggling to translate the color purple, use ‘they put a robe on Jesus the color of the fruit of the Okani tree’?

“’Yeah. We know exactly what color that is,’ the men said enthusiastically.

“Everyone in their village would also visualize this phrase accurately, as the Okani tree is the only tree in that area that produces this kind of purple growth. So now, among the Kasua people, in his royal purple robe, Jesus is shown to be the king that he is.”

tabernacle (noun)

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “tabernacle” in English is translated in San Blas Kuna as “house of prayer that can be carried.” (Source: Ronald Ross)

In Bandi it is translated as “holy sitting place.” The “sitting place for the Bandi is where you live.” Therefore the tabernacle is the place where God lived. (Source: Becky Grossmann in this newsletter )

In Vidunda it is translated as “God’s tent” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext) and in Tibetan as gur mchog (གུར་​མཆོག) or “perfect tent” (source: gSungrab website )

In American Sign Language it is translated with with a sign for “tent” combined with a sign referring to the outer court surrounding the tent (see Exodus 27:9 and following). (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Tabernacle” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

See also tabernacle (verb) / dwell, festival of Tabernacles and ark of the covenant.

Translation commentary on Exod 26:1

Moreover is simply a translation of the common conjunction waw, but the word order indicates a change in focus: “And the tabernacle you [singular] shall make [with] ten curtains.” Since this is the first verse in a new section of discourse, it may be helpful to indicate who is speaking; for example, “The LORD said, ‘Make the….’ ” The with is added, but Good News Translation‘s “out of” may be clearer. With this verse, however, Good News Translation introduces a new term, “the Tent of my presence,” in addition to “the sacred Tent,” both of which are used to translate the word mishkan. This kind of duplication, or double translation, is unnecessary and is not recommended. (See the introductory remarks at the beginning of this section.) This later becomes confusing in Good News Translation when the distinction between mishkan, ʾohel, and ʾohel moʿed needs to be made. All three terms are often rendered in Good News Translation as “the Tent of the LORD’s presence.” (See the discussion at 33.7 and in the introduction to 33.7-11.) Various ways to render tabernacle are discussed at 25.8-9. Good News Translation adds the word “interior” to make clear that the curtains described in verses 1-6 will form the inner layer of the tabernacle, over which three other layers will be placed.

Ten curtains may be understood as “ten pieces” (Good News Translation) or “ten sheets” (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “ten strips of cloth.” The Hebrew word always refers to tent fabric, or material used in making tents. Tents were usually made from goats’ hair (see verse 7), but this first layer of the tabernacle is to be made of fine twined linen. (See the discussion at 25.4.) New Revised Standard Version has “fine twisted linen,” since the word for twined refers to twisting the thread in spinning.

And blue and purple and scarlet stuff is identical with 25.4. (See the discussion there). Here again the word stuff is not in the Hebrew, so New Revised Standard Version has “blue, purple, and crimson yarns.” Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version‘s use of “wool” introduces a different kind of fabric, and it is confusing to think of “fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool.” It is possible that woolen thread of the different colors was used for the embroidery, but this is not clear in the text. (The mixing of linen and wool is actually forbidden in Deut 22.11, but there it refers to clothing. See also Lev 19.19.) There are thus two possible alternative models:

• Make [or, Have them make] the sacred tent out of ten pieces of the finest linen. Weave these out of blue, purple, and crimson thread. Also have them embroider….

• Make the sacred tent [or, tent where I live] out of ten pieces of the finest linen cloth. Have them take blue, purple, and crimson wool thread and embroider….

With cherubim skilfully worked you shall make them refers to the “winged creatures” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) discussed at 25.18. Skilfully worked is literally “work of reflection,” or “something done by a thinker.” This may refer either to a specialized form of weaving or to the work of a “skilled craftsman” (New International Version). The text, however, seems to focus on the material rather than on the craftsman. So Good News Translation has “Embroider them with figures of winged creatures,” but New Jerusalem Bible is better, “You will have them embroidered.” This allows for Moses to have the work done by skilled craftsmen rather than doing it himself (as described in 36.8). One may also say “You must have people embroider them.” “Embroider” may also be expressed as “use a needle to sew” or “make … with a needle.”

Alternative translation models for this verse are:

• Make [or, Have them make] the sacred tent [or, tent where I live] out of ten pieces of the finest linen cloth. Weave these out of blue, purple, and crimson thread. Also have them take needles and sew [or, embroider] figures of cherubs into the cloth.

• … Also have them make [or, spin] blue, purple, and crimson thread out of wool and use it to embroider figures of cherubs into the linen cloth.

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 .