Num 14:29

years (age)

In Aekyom, years are counted as “turtles” (ambum).

Norm Mundhenk tells this story:

“Recently I was checking some New Testament material in the Aekyom language of western Papua New Guinea. It seemed relatively clear until suddenly we came to a passage that started, ‘When Jesus had 12 turtles, …’ Surely I had misunderstood what they said.
“‘Did you say that Jesus had 12 turtles?’
“‘Let us explain! Around here there is a certain time every year when river turtles come up on the banks and lay their eggs. Because this is so regular, it can be used as a way of counting years. Someone’s age is said to be how many turtles that person has. So when we say that Jesus had 12 turtles, we mean that Jesus was 12 years old.’
“It was of course the familiar story of Jesus’ trip with his parents to Jerusalem. And certainly, as we all know, Jesus did indeed have 12 turtles at that time!”

In Tok Pisin, krismas (derived from “christmas”) is taken as the fixed annual marker, so Jesus had 12 “christmases” (Jisas i gat 12-pela krismas pinis) or Abram (in Gen. 12:4) had 75 (Abram i gat 75 krismas) (source: Norm Mundhenk). In Noongar it is biroka kadak or “summers had” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

desert, wilderness

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The Greek that is translated as “desert” or “wilderness” in English is translated in a number of ways:

Mairasi: “a place where noisiness is cut off (or: stops)” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Muna: pandaso bhalano pr “big barren-field” (source: René van den Berg)
Balinese: “barren field” (source: J.L. Swellengrebel in The Bible Translator 1950 p. 75ff. )
Wantoat: “uninhabited place” (source: Holzhausen 1991, p. 38)
Umiray Dumaget Agta: “where no people dwell” (source: Larson 1998, p. 98)
Shipibo-Conibo: “where no house is” (source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
Ocotlán Zapotec: “large empty place” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
Pa’o Karen: “jungle” (denoting a place without any towns, villages and tilled fields) (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. )
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).

See also wilderness and desolate wilderness.

census

The Greek and Hebrew that is typically translated as “census” in English is translated in these ways:

Teutila Cuicatec: “registration”
Eastern Highland Otomi: “counting of the people”
Lalana Chinantec: “writing down all the people”
Isthmus Mixe: “writing how many people there are”
San Mateo del Mar Huave: “when the names are given”
Chichimeca-Jonaz: “recording of the names” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Uma: counting of the people” (Source: Uma Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Numbers 14:29 - 14:30

The sentence covering verses 29-30 in Revised Standard Version will be too long in many languages. Good News Translation provides one model for dividing it into several sentences.

Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness means the Israelites will die in the desert. Good News Translation indicates that they will die periodically and individually, not all at once, by saying “You will die and your corpses will be scattered across this wilderness.” Some languages distinguish between human and other types of animate corpses; obviously, dead bodies refers to human corpses. For the Hebrew word rendered wilderness (midbar), see 1.1.

And of all your number, numbered from twenty years old and upward …: The census originally had a military purpose in view of the conquest of the land. Now it becomes a list of those condemned to perish in the wilderness (so Sherwood, page 162). For the Hebrew verb rendered numbered (paqad), see 1.3. It is better translated “recorded” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “registered” (New American Bible), or “enrolled.” For from twenty years old and upward, see 1.3.

Who have murmured against me: See verse 2.

Not one shall come into the land: God will not allow anyone twenty years and older to enter Canaan. The Hebrew construction here emphasizes that there will be no exception. Good News Translation expresses it well by saying “none of you … will enter that land.”

Where I swore that I would make you dwell: The Hebrew expression for I swore is literally “I lifted my hand,” which means “I solemnly promised” (Contemporary English Version; similarly Good News Translation, New Century Version), not that God used bad language. Some translations reflect the Hebrew idiom of raising the right hand while swearing an oath, as happens in many law courts today; for example, Revised English Bible says “I swore with uplifted hand.” It is best not to try to retain the Hebrew gesture, but rather to give the meaning or use an equivalent local gesture for swearing an oath or making a promise. However, translators may retain the gesture and give the meaning by saying “I lifted up my hand to signify the promise I made.” In its reorganization of Revised Standard Version‘s sentence structure, Good News Translation begins a new sentence here, saying “I promised to let you live there.” It would be better to say “I made a solemn promise to let you live there.”

Except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun: The only adults that God will allow to enter Canaan are Caleb the son of Jephunneh (see 13.6) and Joshua the son of Nun (see 11.28 and 13.8).

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

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Verse: Numbers 14:29