21Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat and sending it away into the wilderness by means of someone designated for the task.
The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated as “confess” in English in the context of these verses is translated in a variety of ways. Here are some (back-) translations:
Huastec: “to take aim at one’s sin” (“an idiom which is derived from the action of a hunter taking aim at a bird or animal”) (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Tabasco Chontal: “say, It is true, I’ve done evil” (source: Larson 1998, p. 204)
Central Pame: “pull out the heart” (“so that it may be clearly seen — not just by men, but by God”) (source: Nida 1952, p. 155)
Shipibo-Conibo: “say, It is true I have sinned” (source: Nida 1964, p. 228)
Obolo: itutumu ijo isibi: “speak out sin” (source: Enene Enene).
Tagbanwa: “testify that one would now drop/give-up sin” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Yakan: “the lonely place” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a land where no people lived” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “the place with no inhabitants” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Note that in Luke 15:4, usually a term is used that denotes pastoral land, such as “eating/grazing-place” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated as “sin” in English has a wide variety of translations.
The Greek ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) carries the original verbatim meaning of “miss the mark.” Likewise, many translations contain the “connotation of moral responsibility.” Loma has (for certain types of sin) “leaving the road” (which “implies a definite standard, the transgression of which is sin”) or Navajo uses “that which is off to the side.” (Source: Bratcher / Nida). In Toraja-Sa’dan the translation is kasalan, which originally meant “transgression of a religious or moral rule” and has shifted its meaning in the context of the Bible to “transgression of God’s commandments.” (Source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21ff. ).
In Shipibo-Conibo the term is hocha. Nida (1952, p. 149) tells the story of its choosing: “In some instances a native expression for sin includes many connotations, and its full meaning must be completely understood before one ever attempts to use it. This was true, for example, of the term hocha first proposed by Shipibo-Conibo natives as an equivalent for ‘sin.’ The term seemed quite all right until one day the translator heard a girl say after having broken a little pottery jar that she was guilty of ‘hocha.’ Breaking such a little jar scarcely seemed to be sin. However, the Shipibos insisted that hocha was really sin, and they explained more fully the meaning of the word. It could be used of breaking a jar, but only if the jar belonged to someone else. Hocha was nothing more nor less than destroying the possessions of another, but the meaning did not stop with purely material possessions. In their belief God owns the world and all that is in it. Anyone who destroys the work and plan of God is guilty of hocha. Hence the murderer is of all men most guilty of hocha, for he has destroyed God’s most important possession in the world, namely, man. Any destructive and malevolent spirit is hocha, for it is antagonistic and harmful to God’s creation. Rather than being a feeble word for some accidental event, this word for sin turned out to be exceedingly rich in meaning and laid a foundation for the full presentation of the redemptive act of God.”
In Kaingang, the translation is “break God’s word” and in Sandawe the original meaning of the Greek term (see above) is perfectly reflected with “miss the mark.” (Source: Ursula Wiesemann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 36ff., 43)
Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the DanishBibelen 2020, comments on the translation of this term: “We would explain terms, such that e.g. sin often became ‘doing what God does not want’ or ‘breaking God’s law’, ‘letting God down’, ‘disrespecting God’, ‘doing evil’, ‘acting stupidly’, ‘becoming guilty’. Now why couldn’t we just use the word sin? Well, sin in contemporary Danish, outside of the church, is mostly used about things such as delicious but unhealthy foods. Exquisite cakes and chocolates are what a sin is today.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
The name that is transliterated as “Aaron” in English is translated in Catalan Sign Language and Spanish Sign Language as “stones on chest plate” (according to Exodus 28:15-30) (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff.)
Shall lay both his hands: in many languages it is unnecessary and even awkward to introduce the term both when the plural for hands is used. But in other cases it is possible to use the word for emphasis. Naturalness in the receptor language will determine what the translator does in this case. It should be remembered, however, that the usual practice was to put only one hand on the head of the sin offering (see 4.4). So some kind of emphasis is desirable if it can be done naturally in the language of translation.
The live goat: it may be unnecessary in some languages to repeat the word live if one says “that goat [already referred to in verse 20]” or simply “the goat,” using the definite article.
Confess: if the usual term for this is a technical term which may have undesirable connotations, a similar term may be used, such as “recite,” “admit,” or “list.” See 5.5.
Iniquities … transgressions … sins …: in the following verse these three terms are summarized with the single word “iniquities.” They are practically synonymous here but should be translated as separate words if the receptor language has the resources to do so. See verse 16.
Put them upon the head of the goat: in some languages it may be better to omit the reference to the head of the animal, since it is the whole animal that goes away into the desert. But the more difficult problem is to understand how, or in what sense, the sins of the people can be transferred to the goat. It may be necessary to say something like “assigning them to the goat,” or “passing them on to the goat,” or “transmitting them to the goat.” In some languages a careful choice of expression for confess may help clarify the idea of a transfer of guilt.
And send him away …: instead of the conjunction and, it may be more understandable if a stronger transition word such as “then” or “next” is used in this context. The verb used here has been understood to mean “driven off” (Good News Translation) or “lead away” (compare An American Translation). But the verb “to send” seems out of place here. According to Jewish tradition the goat is taken to the top of a high cliff or ledge and then pushed off in order that it might be killed. This would imply the presence of someone leading the animal up to the last moment.
By the hand of a man who is in readiness: specific reference to the hand is not necessary and may even be misleading in some languages. The point is that a particular person was designated in advance to be the one who would lead or drive the animal out into the desert. One may translate “by the person appointed (or, chosen) for the task.”
Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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