27The following was the reason he rebelled against the king. Solomon built the Millo and closed up the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is transliterated as “Solomon” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “wise” referring to 1 Kings 3:12. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king: These words introduce what follows in verses 27b-40. If translators follow the form of the Hebrew, they should be sure that the pronoun he clearly refers to Jeroboam. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates the first half of this verse as follows: “The circumstances under which he raised his hand against the king were as follows.” Some common language translations rephrase it and say simply “This is the story of the revolt” (Good News Translation; similarly Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, New Living Translation) or “Here is how it happened” (Contemporary English Version). For the expression lifted up his hand, see the comments on the previous verse.
Millo: See the comments on 1 Kgs 9.15.
Closed up the breach of the city of David means Solomon was repairing the walls around Jerusalem (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). Both New Revised Standard Version and Revised English Bible supply the words “in the wall” after the Hebrew noun rendered breach. New Revised Standard Version says “closed up the gap in the wall of the city….” This information should probably be made explicit in other languages also.
For the city of David, see 1 Kgs 2.10 and 8.1.
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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