The Hebrew, Greek, and Ge’ez that is translated as “high places” in English is translated in Chitonga as malende. Ernst Wendland (1987, p. 57) explains: “The preceding expression [‘place for worship/sacrifice on top of hills’], though intelligible linguistically, sounds rather strange to the Tonga who live on the relatively flat plains of southern Zambia. There are ‘hills’ in their country, but normally no one would ever worship regularly there. For this reason the new translation will try out a cultural substitute (see below), malende, the ‘local shrine’ of Tonga traditional religion, where the ‘priest’ (clan head, who may be a chief as well) makes sacrifices to the spirits in time of corporate calamity, especially drought. This would seem to approximate quite closely the main elements of both form and function of the term ‘high places’ in the Old Testament, which were not always or even usually set upon hills, especially in the latter days of the monarchy (cp. 2 Kings 17:9, 29).”
In the Chichewa interconfessional translation (publ. 1999), it is translated as “shrines for worshiping images there.” (Source: Ernst Wendland in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 319ff. )
The Hebrew that is typically translated as “sacred pole” in English is translated in Elhomwe with mafanwiiwa a Asherimu or “idol of Asherah” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext) and in the English translation by Goldingay (2018) as totem pole.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 14:23:
Kupsabiny: “They made things for sacrifices and molded certain things which resembled Asherah. Some of those things were placed along the hills and the others were placed under huge trees.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “They established for themselves places to do puja, sacred stone pillars and poles of the goddess Asherah on every high hill and under every green tree.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “They also made places-of-worship at the high places and remembrance stones/(monuments), and they had-built seems-like-poles that symbolize the goddess Ashera on the top of every mountain and under every leafy trees.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “They built places to worship those gods; on high hills, and under big trees they set up stone pillars to worship the goddess Asherah.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
They also built for themselves …: As noted in the previous verse, the pronoun they refers to the people of Judah at the time of Rehoboam.
Good News Translation does not translate the Hebrew word meaning also, and thereby loses the intended comparison here. The point is that the people in the kingdom of Judah built places of worship for idols, just as the people in the northern kingdom had done. The point of comparison, then, is with the people of the northern kingdom and not with “their fathers,” who are mentioned at the end of verse 22. Compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch: “Just like the people in the kingdom of Israel they erected….”
For themselves means they did for themselves what the northern tribes had done for themselves.
High places: See the comments on 1 Kgs 3.2.
Pillars translates a Hebrew noun that usually refers to an unhewn, uncut or natural stone that stood upright. Sometimes these stones were used for burial-marking (Gen 35.20) or for reminding people of some special event that happened at that location (Gen 35.14). In this context, however, the reference is to stones associated with the worship of Baal. Archaeologists have discovered numerous such stones in the ancient Near Eastern world of the Old Testament.
Asherim: See the comments on verse 15.
On every high hill and under every green tree: These kinds of places were commonly chosen for the religious rites of non-Israelites since they believed their gods were in these places (see Deut 12.2). So the people of Judah were imitating their heathen neighbors by setting up shrines in such places. The idea behind green tree is expressed in a variety of ways in modern English versions; for example, “spreading tree” (New International Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), “leafy tree” (Jewish Publication Version), and “shady trees” (Good News Translation).
A similar worship of false gods led to the fall of Samaria (2 Kgs 17.9-10).
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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