atonement

The Greek and Hebrew that is usually translated in English as “atonement” is translated in Luchazi with minina mata: “to swallow another’s spittle.” “The human bite [is traditionally thought of] as being the most poisonous and dangerous and the poison lies in the saliva. So in swallowing another’s spittle, one takes into oneself all the poison or evil of the other and thus actually ‘becomes sin’ on behalf of the other. The substitute then proceeds to deal with the case as though he were the guilty one.” (Source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. )

See also propitiation / atoning sacrifice and sacrifice of atonement / expiation / propitiation.

Translation commentary on Numbers 28:30

With one male goat, to make atonement for you: See verses 15 and 22. Unlike those verses, the Hebrew here does not specify what type of offering the billy goat had to be. However, the clause to make atonement for you suggests that the goat had to be offered “as a sin offering” (Good News Translation; similarly Septuagint) during the Harvest Festival. In most languages it will be helpful to translate this verse as a separate sentence (so Good News Translation).

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 .