Ham

In the Tuvan Bible translation project, the official policy (…) was to keep the spelling of names of major characters the same as in the Russian Synodal translation. However, the translation team and representatives of local Tuvan churches agreed that deviation in proper name spelling from the RST would be allowed on a case-by-case basis if there was a concrete need to do so.

Such a need arose with the name of Noah’s son Ham (חָ֥ם) in Genesis and elsewhere in the Old Testament.

In Russian, as in English, this is transliterated with three letters — Хам (Kham). In Russian, the name of this character has entered the language with the meaning of “boorish lout, impudent person” because of how Ham treated his father; in Tuvan, however, the word Хам (Kham) already means “shaman.” Since the Tuvan people continue to practice their traditional religion in which shamans play a major role, the translation team felt that leaving the transliteration of this name with the exact spelling as in Russian might cause needless offense to Tuvan sensibilities by unwittingly causing the text of Gen. 9:20-27 to portray shamans as the targets of Noah’s curse. Therefore, the translation team chose to avoid this potential stumbling block while continuing to maintain a close sound correspondence with the name of the biblical character as Tuvan Christians already knew it from the RST text. This was done by doubling the vowel — Хаам. Tuvan has long vowel phonemes that are written with a double vowel, so this is perfectly acceptable from the point of view of Tuvan orthographic conventions.

The correspondence of the Tuvan version of the name to the Russian Synodal spelling is still recognizable, but hopefully, the wrath of Tuvan shamans and their supporters has been averted by this small disliteration.

The rationale behind such an approach to spelling changes in names is concisely described in the foreword to the Tuvan Bible for the sake of transparency

Apparently, the similarity of the English version of this name to the food item (as in “I’ll have a ham and cheese sandwich”) is not deemed offensive enough to the meat-packing industry for a similar disliteration to be performed in English Bible translations.

Source: Vitaly Voinov in The Bible Translator 2012, p. 17ff.

In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign that signifies “African,” referring to passages like Psalm 105:23. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Ham” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

See also Shem and Japheth.

Canaan

The term that is transliterated as “Canaan” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the sign loosely referencing the act of hiding/covering one’s face in shame. The association of “shame” with the name “Canaan” comes from Genesis 9, specifically verse 9:25. This sign was adapted from a similar sign in Kenyan Sign Language (see here). (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


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

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Canaan in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

complete verse (Genesis 10:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 10:6:

  • Newari: “The sons of Ham — Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The male children of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The descendants of Ham were Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 10:6

Verses 6-19 take up the names of the people who are said to have descended from Ham. This account lists four groups: Cush is said to give rise to five groups, and Raamah the son of Cush to two; Egypt produces seven groups, and Canaan eleven.

Sons of Ham: sons, as in “sons of Japheth,” refers to descendants or line of descent. If the punctuation used in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is not familiar, we may also say “Ham’s sons were Cush, Egypt….”

Cush is a geographic name applied to two very different areas in the Old Testament. See comments on Cush in 2.13.

Egypt is also associated with Ham in Psa 105.23, 27; 106.21, 22 (the Hebrew nameMizraim is a dual form, probably referring to Upper and Lower Egypt).

Put is found in Jer 46.9 and elsewhere. It has been associated with the Somali coast, but the connection with other areas south of Israel makes its identification with Libya much stronger.

Canaan, according to Speiser, is the name for a people speaking a language closely related to Hebrew. Some identify Canaan with the Phoenicians or the pre-Israelite people of the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, especially along the coastland. The ancient Phoenicians applied the term to themselves.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .