42While he was still speaking, Jonathan son of the priest Abiathar arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and surely you bring good news.”
The name that is transliterated as “Abiathar” in English means “father of plenty,” “father of the great one.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) it is translated with a sign that combines “priest” and “last.” Abiathar was a priest during the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon. He was also the last priest in the lineage of Eli (1 Kings 2:27). (Source: Missão Kophós )
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.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 1:42:
Kupsabiny: “While he was still speaking, Jonathan the son of Abiathar arrived. Adonijah immediately said to him, ‘Come in! You are a trustworthy person. I think you are bringing good news!’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Right while he was speaking, Jonathan, son of Abiathar the priest arrived. "Come in," Adonijah said, "You are a brave man, you must be bringing good news."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “While he was still speaking, Jonatan the child of Abiatar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, ‘Come-in, for you are a good man, and surely you bring good news.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “While he was still speaking, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest, arrived. Adonijah said, ‘Come in! You are a man whom we can trust, so you must be bringing us good news!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
While he was still speaking: Before Joab had finished asking his question about the meaning of the uproar in the city, he was interrupted by the arrival of a man named Jonathan.
Behold: This interjection is not translated in Good News Translation. It functions in Hebrew to mark the suddenness of the appearance of Jonathan and possibly also to draw attention to what follows.
Jonathan the son of Abiathar appears here for the first time in 1 Kings, but he was mentioned earlier in 2 Sam 15 and 17.
A worthy man is literally “a man of power [or, wealth].” The Hebrew noun translated worthy has various meanings depending on the context, for example, “power,” “ability,” “wealth,” and “property.” The English word worthy (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) will suggest “moral worth” to many readers. But while the Hebrew word may include “moral worth,” as in verse 52, it may also refer to one’s status as a wealthy person of high social standing. In this context the focus seems to be on the fact that Jonathan is trustworthy or reliable. Compare the following translations: “a valiant man” (An American Translation), “an honourable man” (Revised English Bible), “a man of worth” (New American Bible), and “an honest man” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Moffatt).
And bring good news: While this may sound like a statement of fact, it is really a supposition on the part of Joab. Translators may wish to reflect this by saying something like “I suppose you are bringing us some good news” or “you must be bringing good news” (New Jerusalem Bible). Some languages translate “good news will be found in your mouth.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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