concubine

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “concubine” in English is translated in Kutu as “slave made to be his woman” or “female slave he married” and similarly in Makonde, “a slave who is/was a wife.”

In Kwere it is translated as “small wives.” This is the term for subsequent wives when polygamy is practiced among the Kwere. While they enjoy most of the same rights and privileges as the first wife, their status is not necessarily the same. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In Kalanga it is likewise translated with balongwana or “small wives.” (Source: project-specific notes in Paratext)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Concubine .

Translation commentary on 1 Esdras 4:29 - 4:30

Yet I have seen him with Apame, the king’s concubine, the daughter of the illustrious Bartacus: The conjunction Yet may be rendered “But” (Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version). Although scholars have some theories, no people named Apame or Bartacus are known to have been associated with Darius. The Greek phrase for the illustrious Bartacus could be translated “Bartacus son of Thaumastos,” but we prefer the rendering in Revised Standard Version or Good News Bible (“the famous Bartacus”). It is possible that Zerubbabel (or the narrator) intends the adjective illustrious to be sarcastic. The Greek word for concubine refers to a woman who was a member of a man’s household and with whom he slept, but who was not a legal wife. Concubines had certain legal rights and a recognized place in the Persian society, but were of low social status. Contemporary English Version renders concubine as “wife,” but has the following footnote on it: “This translates a Greek word for a woman who was legally bound to a man, but without the full privileges of a wife.” We would probably be justified in translating the king’s concubine as “one of the king’s harem,” assuming that he had more than one such woman. In some cultures a concubine is thought of as a “minor wife.” So in some languages Apame will be referred to with an honorific, for example, “her excellency Apame.”

She would sit at the king’s right hand and take the crown from the king’s head and put it on her own, and slap the king with her left hand: Zerubbabel describes Apame as a woman who had such an easy relationship with King Darius that she could tease him in public and get by with it. So she must have had a high status in the king’s eyes. The Greek verbs used in this verse form an interesting progression. The verbs rendered sit, take and put are all present participles, subordinate to the main verb translated have seen, and indicating things Zerubbabel has seen Apame do. But slap renders an independent Greek verb. This verb is in the imperfect tense, indicating something Zerubbabel has seen more than once. It is the climax of this chain of verb forms. This woman would dare to do these bold actions, and then, to top it all off, actually strike the king with her left hand! We should not take this to mean that Apame is violent, hitting the king with any force. Everything she does is done to tease the king, making him want her and showing her power over him at the same time. To sit at the king’s right hand would be deliberately sitting down in a place of honor. Slap the king is probably better interpreted as patting him on the cheek. Since she is sitting on the king’s right, she could not use her left hand to hit him with any force. Simply touching the king would be an act of daring, and doing so with the left hand especially so. We may assume that in this society, as in many societies, to use the left hand even to point to a person, let alone touch that person, would be insulting, or at least impudent.

Good News Bible provides a helpful model for verses 29-30. Another possible model is:

• 29 You know that great man Bartacus. His daughter Apame is one of the king’s women [or, minor wives/concubines]. And I have seen her sit down right beside the king, at his right side. 30 Then she took the crown off his head, put it on her own, and patted the king on the cheek with her left hand!

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.