Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


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

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 52:28 - 52:30

This is the number: Good News Translation “This is the record” is probably more natural in English. Or translators can have something like “Here is the record of the numbers.”

The seventh year; that is, 598-597 B.C. This means the seventh year he was king.

In the translation it must be clear that the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away are the same as the three thousand and twenty-three Jews. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch combines these and translates “Nebuchadnezzar led 3023 men from Judah into captivity.”

The eighteenth year would have been 587-586 B.C. Again, this is the eighteenth year of his reign. There seems little reason to repeat of Nebuchadrezzar.

In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzaradan … carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons: The twenty-third year would have been 582-581 B.C. Translators can render this “in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzardan took away 745 of the Jews.”

All the persons were four thousand and six hundred: This figure is the total of the three groups. It was probably arrived at by counting only the adult male population.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .