Western Bukidnon Manobo: “high sacrificer” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Tagbanwa as “Most-important Priest of God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Bariai: “Big leader of offerings” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
In Khoekhoe the translation for “high priest” is only capitalized when it refers to Jesus (as is Hebrews 2:17 et al.). (Source: project-specific notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Greek that are typically translated as “priest” in English (itself deriving from Latin “presbyter” — “elder”) is often translated with a consideration of existing religious traditions. (Click or tap for details)
Bratcher / Nida (1961) say this:
“However, rather than borrow local names for priests, some of which have unwanted connotations, a number of translations have employed descriptive phrases based on certain functions: (1) those describing a ceremonial activity: Pamona uses tadu, the priestess who recites the litanies in which she describes her journey to the upper or under-world to fetch life-spirit for sick people, animals or plants; Batak Toba uses the Arabic malim, ‘Muslim religious teacher;’ ‘one who presents man’s sacrifice to God’ (Bambara, Eastern Maninkakan), ‘one who presents sacrifices’ (Baoulé, Navajo (Dinė)), ‘one who takes the name of the sacrifice’ (Kpelle, and ‘to make a sacrifice go out’ (Hausa); (2) those describing an intermediary function: ‘one who speaks to God’ (Shipibo-Conibo) and ‘spokesman of the people before God’ (Tabasco Chontal).”
In Obolo it is translated as ogwu ngwugwa or “the one who offers sacrifice” (source: Enene Enene), in Mairasi as agam aevar nevwerai: “religious leader” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Ignaciano as “blesser, one who does ritual as a practice” (using a generic term rather than the otherwise common Spanish loan word sacerdote) (source: Willis Ott in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.), and in Noongar as yakin-kooranyi or “holy worker” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
For Guhu-Samane, Ernest Richert (in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. ) reports this: “The [local] cult of Poro used to be an all-encompassing religious system that essentially governed all areas of life. (…) For ‘priest’ the term ‘poro father’ would at first seem to be a natural choice. However, several priests of the old cult are still living. Although they no longer function primarily as priests of the old system they still have a substantial influence on the community, and there would be more than a chance that the unqualified term would (in some contexts particularly) be equated with the priest of the poro cult. We learned, then, that the poro fathers would sometimes be called ‘knife men’ in relation to their sacrificial work. The panel was pleased to apply this term to the Jewish priest, and the Christian community has adopted it fully. [Mark 1:44, for instance, now] reads: ‘You must definitely not tell any man of this. But you go show your body to the knife man and do what Moses said about a sacrifice concerning your being healed, and the cause (base of this) will be apparent.'”
For a revision of the 1968 version of the Bible in Khmer Joseph Hong (in: The Bible Translator 1996, 233ff. ) talks about a change in wording for this term:
Bau cha r (បូជាចារ្យ) — The use of this new construction meaning “priest” is maintained to translate the Greek word hiereus. The term mean sang (មាន សង្ឃ) used in the old version actually means a “Buddhist monk,” and is felt to be theologically misleading. The Khmer considers the Buddhist monk as a “paddy field of merits,” a reserve of merits to be shared with other people. So a Khmer reader would find unthinkable that the mean sang in the Bible killed animals, the gravest sin for a Buddhist; and what a scandal it would be to say that a mean sang was married, had children, and drank wine.
In Cherokee (Jewish) priests are translated as atsilv-anelohi (ᎠᏥᎸ-ᎠᏁᎶᎯ), “fire feeders.” Bender / Belt (2025, p. 26) explain: “[This] provides a point of semantic overlap between the Jewish priests mentioned in the book of John and traditional Cherokee leaders who would have maintained a ceremonial fire. No loanword or semantic extension would have highlighted this specific similarity. Just as the New Testament Christ seeks to supersede the priests of his day, the missionaries working to translate the New Testament hoped to replace traditional ceremonialism with Christian beliefs and practices. Describing the Jewish priests as ‘fire feeders’ may have been a way to emphasize the obsolescence of fire-based ceremonialism. Strikingly, this word has become the term for Catholics. The vast majority of Cherokee converts to Christianity are Protestants.”
In Cuban Sign Language (the Jewish) priest is translated referencing the ephod , the traditional apron that was worn by priests:
Alain Montano (in: The Bible Translator 2026, p. 173ff.) explains: “A second challenge arose in translating the term ‘priest’ in Luke 10:31, referring to the priest who was descending from the temple. The translation team consisted primarily of Evangelical translators and included one Catholic translator. The initial sign proposed for ‘priest’ referenced the clerical collar, a symbol commonly associated with clergy across multiple Christian denominations, such as Methodists, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Reformed, Catholics, Moravians, and others. While most team members considered this option acceptable, the Catholic translator raised concerns that this representation could generate confusion, as it encompassed denominational identities not directly related to the priest described in the biblical text.
“Given this observation, the team began searching for a sign that accurately represented the priest in question and his role, with the aim of ensuring that the translation and interpretation of the text was as faithful as possible. Signs referencing a bishop’s miter or the skullcap worn by cardinals and popes were discarded, as the priest in question did not belong to the Catholic tradition as the evangelical translators initially understood it.
“The possibility of representing the high priest—using the breastplate and the Urim and Thummim — was also rejected, since the character in the text was not the high priest, but a Levitical priest serving his assigned turn in the temple. The challenge was ultimately resolved through the creation of a new sign referencing the ephod, which more accurately represented this type of priest, who served as an assistant in the work of the temple of Israel.”
After these things, when Artaxerxes the king of the Persians was reigning, Ezra came …: After these things may be rendered “Later” or even “Much later” (Contemporary English Version). The events here took place more than 50 years after those in the previous chapter. When Artaxerxes the king of the Persians was reigning may be translated “when King Artaxerxes was ruling over Persia.” For Artaxerxes I, see 1 Esd 2.16; for the king of the Persians, see 1 Esd 2.1. The high point of this sentence, as well as of the book, is Ezra came. Translators should find a way to point this out to their readers. In some literary traditions there are special discourse markers for indicating that a new person is being brought into the narrative. These special devices should be used to make it clear that a new part of the narrative is beginning through the presentation of the new character. Here in English we may say “there was a man named Ezra and he came” (similarly Good News Bible) to indicate the beginning of a new development in the account. Another possible model is “there was a certain man, his name was Ezra, and he came.” It would be helpful to indicate also where he came from (Babylonia; see verse 3) or at least where he came to (Jerusalem; see verse 5). The name Ezra is probably a shortened form of Azariah, meaning “the LORD has helped.” The Greek form of this name is the origin of the name “Esdras.” Contemporary English Version begins verses 1-3 with “Much later, when Artaxerxes was king of Persia, Ezra came to Jerusalem from Babylonia.” But we may also say “Many years later, when Artaxerxes was king of Persia, a man named Ezra arrived in Jerusalem from Babylonia.”
The son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, son of Amariah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, son of Abishua, son of Phineas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest: This long genealogy of Ezra, which was very impressive to ancient Jewish readers, will get in the way of many readers today. Recounting the ancestry of Ezra was important in order to establish that he was a priest descended from Aaron the High Priest and that he had the right to introduce certain reforms in the Temple and in the life of the Jews from the Law. Good News Bible begins this long family line by expressing as a separate thought its main point, which is “He traced his ancestry back to Aaron, the High Priest.” Some cultures have special literary forms or a special genre for tracing ancestry. Where they exist, the special rules of this genre should be followed in presenting this genealogy. As in the Greek text, it may be traced from Ezra to his father, grandfather and great-grandfather back to Aaron. Alternatively, the order of presentation may be reversed to trace Ezra’s ancestors from Aaron in descending order (so first model below). Chief priest is literally “first priest” (Contemporary English Version). Aaron was the ancestor and the first of all priests in Israel.
This Ezra came up from Babylon as a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which was given by the God of Israel: In this context Babylon refers to the country of “Babylonia” (Good News Bible; see the comments on 1 Esd 1.40). The Greek word for scribe in this context means “scholar” (compare 1 Esd 2.16). Skilled in the law of Moses means Ezra knew everything there was to know about the Law of Moses. The law of Moses refers to the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is called “the book of Moses” in 1 Esd 1.11 (see the comments there).
Models that combine verses 1-3 are:
• Much later, when Artaxerxes was king of Persia, a man named Ezra came from Babylonia to Jerusalem. Ezra was descended from Aaron, the first High Priest, through Eleazar, Phinehas, Abishua, Bukki, Uzzi, Amariah, Ahitub, Zadok, Shallum, Hilkiah, Azariah, and Seraiah. Ezra was a scholar who knew everything there was to know about the Law of Moses, which God gave to Israel.
• … Ezra was a scholar who was familiar with everything in the Law of Moses, which God gave to Israel.
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.
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