The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “widow” in English is translated in West Kewa as ona wasa or “woman shadow” (source: Karl J. Franklin in Notes on Translation 70/1978, pp. 13ff.) and in Newari as “husband already died ones” or “ones who have no husband” (source: Newari Back Translation).
In Cherokee the term is gender neutral and translates to “one who has lost someone.” (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 100)
The etymological meaning of the Hebrewalmanah (אַלְמָנָה) is likely “pain, ache,” the Greekchéra (χήρα) is likely “to leave behind,” “abandon,” and the Englishwidow (as well as related terms in languages such as Dutch, German, Sanskrit, Welsh, or Persian) is “to separate,” “divide” (source: Wiktionary).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 17:9:
Kupsabiny: “‘Get up and go to the city of Zarephath which is near Sidon and stay there. I have told a certain woman who is a widow at that place to be feeding you.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “‘Now go immediately to the village of Zarephath near the city of Sidon, and stay there. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.2” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘You go to Zarefat in Sidon, and stay there. I have-commanded a woman widow there to feed you.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘Go and live in Zarephath village, near Sidon city. There is a widow there who will give you food to eat. I have already told her what to do about that.’” (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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Arise, go to Zarephath: Regarding the function of the verbs Arise and “arose” (verse 10), see the comments on 1 Kgs 2.40. The meaning of the Hebrew is expressed correctly in New Revised Standard Version and Revised English Bible as “Go now to Zarephath” (similarly Good News Translation).
For Zarephath see the introductory comments on this section.
Which belongs to Sidon is literally “which is of Sidon.” The meaning seems to be “in the region around Sidon” or “near the city of Sidon.”
Dwell there: There is no definite indication of the time period during which Elijah was expected to remain in Zarephath, but it would certainly be longer than a few hours. In this context the verb dwell seems to imply spending at least several nights and probably longer. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “stay there,” and New Revised Standard Version and Contemporary English Version translate “live there.”
The Hebrew focusing particle rendered Behold draws attention to the LORD’s provision for the needs of the prophet through the widow living in Zarephath.
As in verse 4, the phrase to feed you may be better rendered by an expression like “to provide for you” (Moffatt, New American Bible) or “to give you food” (New Jerusalem Bible).
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 .
17:9a “Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there.
“Go (sing) right away to Zarephath ⌊town⌋, near Sidon ⌊city⌋, and live (sing) there. -or-
“Go (sing) now to ⌊the town of⌋ Zarephath that belongs to ⌊the city⌋ Sidon, and live (sing) there ⌊temporarily⌋.
17:9b Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
I have instructed a woman there, a widow, to provide you (sing) with food.” -or-
I have commanded a widow ⌊who lives⌋ in that town/village to feed/support you (sing).”
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