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.

lion

There are no lions in Bawm country, so the Bawm Chin translation uses “a tiger with a mane” where the Greek term for “lion” is used and in Sranan Tongo the “roaring lion” in 1 Peter 5:8 is a krasi tigri, an “aggressive tiger.”

In the Kahua culture, lions are not known either so the Kahua translation used “fierce animal.”

In 1 Peter 5:8, the Uripiv translation uses “a hungry shark” instead of a roaring lion.

Sources: David Clark for Bawm Chin and Kahua, Japini 2015, p. 33, for Sranan Tongo, and Ross McKerras for Uripiv)

wolf

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English as “wolf” is translated in Muna as da’u ngkahoku: “forest dog,” because there is no immediate lexical equivalent. (Source: René van den Berg)

In Asháninka, it is translated as “ferocious animal,” in Waffa and Kui as “wild dog,” and in Navajo as “Coyote” (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125), and in Odia as “tiger” (source for this and for Kui: Helen Evans in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. )

In Lingala it is translated as “leopard.” Sigurd F. Westberg (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 117ff. ) explains: “The wolf, for example, does not exist here, but its relative the jackal does and we have a name for it. But the jackal does not prey on domestic animals as the wolf did in Palestine, nor is he as fierce. The equivalent from these points of view is the leopard. Hence in Genesis 49 Benjamin is likened to a ravenous leopard, and the basic meaning is approached more closely than if we had been governed by scientific classification.”

Mungaka also uses “leopard” (see also bear (animal)) (source: Nama 1990). Likewise in Klao and Dan (source: Don Slager).

Michel Kenmogne comments on this and comparable translations (in Noss 2007, p. 378 ff.): “Some exegetical solutions adopted by missionary translations may have been acceptable during that time frame, but weighed against today’s translation theory and procedures, they appear quite outdated and even questionable. For example, Atangana Nama approvingly mentions the translation into Mungaka of terms like ‘deer’ as ‘leopard’, ‘camel’ as ‘elephant’, and ‘wheat’ as ‘maize,’ where the target language has no direct equivalent to the source text. These pre-Nida translation options, now known as adaptations, would be declared unacceptable in modern practice, since they misrepresent the historico-zoological and agricultural realities in the Bible. Nowadays it is considered better to give a generalized term, like ‘grain,’ and where necessary specify ‘a grain called wheat,’ than to give an incorrect equivalence. Unknown animals such as bears, can be called ‘fierce animals,’ especially if the reference is a non-historical context.”

Translation commentary on Isaiah 11:6

Here is another description of the future kingdom. This one is highly figurative. The imagery comes from the world of nature. It speaks of harmony among the animals, especially between those who are natural enemies: domesticated and wild animals. The scene is a metaphor for harmony between all kinds of people though it could also represent a wider vision, that of a harmonious creation. Similar ideas are expressed in 65.25. The prophet may be taking this picture deliberately from the idyllic state of creation described in Gen 1.

A problem will arise in cultures where some of these animals are unknown. An option is to present the basic thought by using indigenous animals that are natural enemies. However, any substitutes should also be animals known to be present in Israel at that time. The more common wild animals then were wild dogs, wild pigs (boars), bears, foxes, and hyenas. Translators should consult ACGS for a list of animals living in the Israelite territory. This approach of substitution is acceptable because the various animals referred to here are used for illustrative purposes only. Translators may also borrow terms from another language, provided they are widely understood. If no suitable animals can be found, a possible alternative is to combine some of the lines, and summarize their contents, for example, “animals that are always enemies now become friends.” However, it this is done, some of the poetic impact of the lines will be lost, so this solution must be handled with caution.

Revised Standard Version uses the definite article the with the names of the animals, for example, The wolf and the lamb. This special function of the definite article in English serves to identify a class or group. In this case it does not refer to a particular animal, one mentioned earlier. In many languages the most natural thing will be to use plural forms (see Good News Translation).

Since this verse changes the topic from the rule of justice in the new kingdom to harmony in nature, a paragraph or stanza break may be added here, as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: Two natural enemies, the wolf and the lamb (Good News Translation “sheep”) will live together, which obviously implies they will live in harmony (so Good News Translation). New American Bible and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translate dwell as “be a guest of.” This seems a rather strained rendering.

And the leopard shall lie down with the kid is a second example of harmony. Again a wild animal lives happily with the domestic animal it usually hunts as prey. A kid is a young goat (so Good News Translation). The verb phrase lie down with binds this verse to the following one; it is a description of living together in peace.

And the calf and the lion and the fatling together: In Revised Standard Version, which follows Masoretic Text closely here, this line lacks a verb; it is counting on the overall structure of the verse to indicate that these three animals also live peacefully together. However, the Septuagint has a verb by replacing the fatling with the verb “feed.” Revised English Bible reflects this reading with “the calf and the young lion will feed together” (similarly Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New American Bible, Bible en français courant). Since it may be necessary in many languages to supply a verb, translators may replace the fatling with the verb “feed.” This is also the (cautious) recommendation of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. If the fatling is kept, translators should know that it refers to a young animal, fattened for eating. The Hebrew word for lion is rendered “young lions” in 5.29. Good News Translation renders it “lion cubs” here, which is appropriate in the context of calves.

And a little child shall lead them: In many rural communities young children take care of the domestic animals. Here the prophet describes the harmony in nature in those terms. A young child will herd all animals, including those known to be wild and dangerous. The verb lead describes the way one person guides others. Verbs such as “take care of” and “herd” convey the sense equally well. The pronoun them could refer to all the animals referred to in the verse, but it could also refer only to those mentioned in the previous line.

For the translation of this verse we may say:

• Wolves will live in harmony with lambs, and leopards will sleep with goats; calves, lions, and fat [or, well-fed] animals will be together, and young children will care for them all.

• Wolves and lambs will live happily together, leopards and goats will sleep together; calves and young lions will share food together, with young children taking care of them.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .