Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 1:24:
Kupsabiny: “He said to the king, ‘My lord, did you say that Adonijah will succeed you to become king?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Nathan said, "O my Lord and Great King, have you yourself made a proclamation that Adonijah will become king after you and that he will sit on your throne?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “and said, ‘Beloved King, have- you (sing.) -said that Adonia is-the-one who will-succeed you (sing.) as king?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then Nathan said, ‘Your Majesty, have you declared that Adonijah will become king after you are no longer the king?” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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.”
Nathan’s words in Hebrew are more naturally understood as a statement than as a question. Compare New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh: “O lord king, you must have said, ‘Adonijah shall succeed me as king and he shall sit upon my throne.’ ” If this understanding is followed, Nathan is accusing David of having already named Adonijah as king without telling his officials of what he had done (verse 27). Most translations, however, translate these words in the form of a question rather than as a statement.
Nathan’s question (or accusation) has two parts: Adonijah shall reign after me and he shall sit upon my throne. The two statements, however, refer to one event, so Good News Translation has combined them into one statement: “Adonijah would succeed you as king.” See the comments on verse 13.
The embedded quotation in this verse will be better handled as indirect discourse in many languages, following the model of Good News Translation. But, in fact, both quotations may have to be treated as indirect discourse in some languages; for example, translators may wish to say:
• Nathan respectfully addressed the king and asked if he had really announced that Adonijah should become king in his place.
But if this is done, adjustments will have to be made at the beginning of the following verse where the direct discourse continues in Hebrew.
As in verse 17, the presence of independent pronouns for you and he in the Masoretic Text may suggest a slight emphasis. As in verse 17, Anchor Bible uses italic font to indicate a slight stress when reading the two pronouns.
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 .
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, ossharu (おっしゃる), the respectful form of iu (言う) or “say / speak” is used.
1:24a “My lord the king,” said Nathan, “did you say, ‘Adonijah will reign after me,
Then he/Nathan asked: “My lord the/and king, have you said that Adonijah will reign after you? -or-
Then he/Nathan said to him: “My royal master, have you said, ‘ ⌊My son⌋ Adonijah will be the next king’? -or-
Then Nathan asked the king if ⌊it was true that⌋ he had announced that Adonijah would be king after him,
1:24b and he will sit on my throne’?
Have you said that he will sit/reign on the throne where you now sit/reign? -or-
Have you said, ‘Adonijah will ⌊be the one to⌋ sit in the royal seat/place ⌊as the new king⌋ ’? -or-
taking his place on the king’s throne ⌊and ruling over Israel⌋.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.