lamb

The term that is translated as “lamb” in English is typically translated as “offspring of a sheep” in Ixcatlán Mazatec since there is no specific word for “lamb.” Since this could distract readers with thoughts of God being the sheep when the “lamb” refers to Jesus the translation into Ixcatlán Mazatec chose “little (individual) sheep” for those cases. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Dëne Súline the native term for “lamb” directly translated as “the young one of an evil little caribou.” To avoid the negative connotation, a loan word from the neighboring South Slavey was used. (Source: NCAM, p. 70)

For the Kasua translation, it took a long process to find the right term. Rachel Greco (in The PNG Experience) tells this story:

“To the Kasua people of Western Province, every four-legged animal is a pig. They call a horse a pig-horse, a cow, a pig-cow, and a sheep, a pig-sheep, because all of these animals have four legs, which is kopolo, or pig, in their language.

“When the translation team would translate the word, ‘sheep’ in the New Testament, they would translate it as ‘pig-sheep’. So when Jesus is referred to as the ‘Lamb,’ (John 1:29; Rev. 12:11; Rev. 17:14), they translated as ‘pig-sheep’ so that in John 1:29 it would read: ‘Behold, the pig-sheep of God.’

“When some members of the translation team attended the Translators Training Course, they had the opportunity to observe and study sheep for the first time. As they watched and learned more about the animals’ behavior, their understanding of these creatures—and God’s Word—rotated on its axis.

“Once during the course, Logan and Konni — the translation team’s helpers — were driving with the team to a Bible dedication when Amos, one of the team members, said passionately, ‘We can’t use the word kopolo in front of the word, ‘sheep’! Pigs know when they’re about to die and squeal and scream.’ The team had often watched villagers tie up pigs so they wouldn’t escape.

“’But,’ Amos said, ‘Jesus didn’t do that.’ The team had learned that sheep are quiet and still when death walks toward them. They had observed, as they translated the New Testament, the words of Isaiah 53 fulfilled: ‘Like a lamb led to the slaughter, he did not open his mouth.’ And now they understood what it meant. For this reason, the team decided not to put pig-sheep in the New Testament for the word ‘sheep,’ but used sheep-animal or, in their language, a:pele sipi.

“The Kasua translation team also chose to discard the word ‘pig’ before sheep because pigs are unclean animals to the Jews. The team knew that Jesus was called the ‘Lamb of God’ in the New Testament to show that he is unblemished and clean. Hopefully the Lord will open up the Kasua villagers’ eyes to these same truths about Jesus as they read of Him in their own language.”

See also sheep.

offering (Luang), sacrifice (Luang)

The Greek terms that are translated uniformly as “sacrifice” or “offering” in English have the option of various terms in Luang with different shades of meaning.

For Acts 24:17, himima-rere’a (“holding two hands out”). “The focus of this term is on the gift being given by a person of lower position to a person of higher position.”

For Acts 21:26, hniurliwtu-nwali odawa (“pour out sweat [and] turn into sweaty smell”). “The focus is on the personal cost of the sacrifice.”

For Gen. 22:2-8 and Gen. 22:13, hopopa-hegeuru (“peace sign”). “The focus is on the animal or object being sacrificed, as in the story of the sacrifice of Isaac. This term was used throughout that whole chapter. This term is also used in verses that speak of Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins.”

For Acts 15:29, hoi-tani (“serve with right hand – serve with left”). “This term is used in referring to sacrifices or worship offered to idols or pagan gods.”

Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.

See also sacrifice.

burnt-offering

The Hebrew olah (עֹלָה) originally means “that which goes up (in smoke).” English Bibles often translates it as “burnt-offering” or “whole burnt-offering,” focusing on the aspect of the complete burning of the offering.

The Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate Bibles translate it as holokautōma / holocautōsis (ὁλοκαύτωμα / ὁλοκαύτωσις) and holocaustum, respectively, meaning “wholly burnt.” While a form of this term is widely used in many Romance languages (Spanish: holocaustos, French: holocaustes, Italian: olocausti, Portuguese: holocaustos) and originally also in the Catholic tradition of English Bible translations, it is largely not used in English anymore today (the preface of the revised edition of the Catholic New American Bible of 2011: “There have been changes in vocabulary; for example, the term ‘holocaust’ is now normally reserved for the sacrilegious attempt to destroy the Jewish people by the Third Reich.”)

Since translation into Georgian was traditionally done on the basis of the Greek Septuagint, a transliteration of holokautōma was used as well, which was changed to a translation with the meaning of “burnt offering” when the Old Testament was retranslated in the 1980’s on the basis of the Hebrew text.

In the Koongo (Ki-manianga) translation by the Alliance Biblique de la R.D. Congo (publ. in 2015) olah is translated as “kill and offer sacrifice.” (Source: Anicet Bassilua)

The English translation of Everett Fox uses offering-up (similarly, the German translation by Buber-Rosenzweig has Darhöhung and the French translation by Chouraqui montée).

See also offering (qorban).

Abraham

The name that is transliterated as “Abraham” in English is translated in virtually all sign languages, including American Sign Language with the sign signifying “hold back arm” (referring to Genesis 22:12).


“Abraham” in American Sign Language (source )

In Tira it is transliterated as Abaram. The choice of this, rather than the widely-known “Ibrahim,” as used in the Tira translation of the Qu’ran, was to offset it against the Muslim transliteration which originates from Arabic. (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

Click or tap here to see two short video clips about Abraham (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also our ancestor Abraham and Abram.

complete verse (Genesis 22:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 22:7:

  • Kankanaey: “Isaac spoke and said ‘Ay (vocative) father!’ ‘What is that?’ said Abraham. ‘Here is what-to-use-for-starting fire and wood, but where (defensive explanatory particle) is the child of the sheep that we (dual) will offer?’ said Isaac.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Isaac said to his father, Abraham — ‘Father'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “While they were-walking, Isaac said, ‘Father!’ Abraham replied, ‘What, child?’ Isaac asked, ‘We (incl.) have brought something-to-start-up-the-flame/fire and firewood, but where is the sheep to-be-offered?'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham, saying, ‘My father!’ Abraham replied, ‘Yes, my son, I’m here!’ Isaac said, ‘Look, we have wood and coals to light a fire, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?'” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 22:7

And Isaac said … “My father!”: this address form should be translated in the natural way a son may address his father to get his attention before asking a perplexing question. In the context of the two walking along together, Speiser translates “Isaac broke the silence and said to his father….”

Here am I, my son: Abraham’s response to his son is the same as Abraham made to God’s call to him in Gen 22.1. However, the context of father and son may require a different form here in some languages. A more natural response in English is New Jerusalem Bible and New International Version “Yes, my son.” Examples of translations in other languages are “Son, what?” and “Yes, what is it?”

Behold, the fire and the wood: Behold here calls attention to Isaac’s awareness of the fire and wood, while the animal is lacking. In translation we may say, for example, “I see that we have fire and wood,” “We have fire and wood with us,” “I know that we have fire and wood.”

But where is the lamb…?: the question form where is…? draws attention to the contrast between what they have for the sacrifice and what is missing. This may be expressed more directly as, for example, “Look! We have got fire and firewood, but we haven’t got a small sheep to make a sacrifice with. What will we do for that?” Lamb translates a Hebrew word meaning the young of a sheep or goat and so can refer to a lamb (young sheep) or a kid (young goat). Both are used for sacrifice.

For a burnt offering: that is, “a lamb to be killed and sacrificed” or “a kid to be killed and burned as a gift to God.”

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 .