7Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, “Look now! See how this man is seeking trouble, for he sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I did not refuse him.”
The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the DanishBibelen 2020 as folkets ledere or “leaders of the people.”
Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators, explains: “The term ‘elder’ turned out to pose a particularly thorny problem. In traditional bibles, you can find elders all of over the place and they never pose a problem for a translator, they are just always elders. But how to find a contemporary term for this semi-official, complex position? This may have been our longest-standing problem. A couple of times we thought we had the solution, and then implemented it throughout the texts, only to find out that it didn’t work. Like when we used city council or village council, depending on the context. In the end we felt that the texts didn’t work with such official terms, and throughout the years in the desert, these terms didn’t make much sense. Other suggestions were ‘the eldest and wisest’, ‘the respected citizens’, ‘the Israelites with a certain position in society’, ‘the elder council’ –- and let me point out that these terms sound better in Danish than in English (‘de fremtrædende borgere,’ ‘de mest fremtrædende israelitter,’ ‘alle israelitter med en vis position,’ ‘de ældste og de klogeste,’ ‘ældsterådet’). In the end we just said ‘leaders of the people.’ After a lot of hand-wringing, it turned out that we actually found a term that worked well. So, we had to give up conveying the fact that they were old, but the most important point is that they were community leaders.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
The Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).
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 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.”
The king of Israel may be translated more specifically as “King Ahab” (Good News Translation) or simply “Ahab” (New Century Version, Contemporary English Version) in the receptor language if it is more natural to do so.
The elders of the land: For elders see the comments on 1 Kgs 8.1. The land refers to the country of Israel. Compare “the elders of the country” (New Jerusalem Bible) and “the older leaders of his country” (New Century Version).
Since the city of Samaria is under attack, the sense may be that Ahab called together the elders who were at that moment present inside the city walls. But such an interpretation is not likely what the author intended. On the other hand, it is possible that the siege was against the territory around Samaria and not yet directly against the city itself. If this was the situation, then elders from other parts of the country may have been able to enter the city. Most likely, however, this statement represents what Walsh (page 296) calls “a narrative flaw.” That is, the author has stated that the city was under siege and then states that the king called the elders from outside the city to come into the city, but the author does not worry about this inconsistency in the story.
Mark, now, and see: Mark … and see is literally “Know … and see.” This Hebrew idiom, which occurs several times in the Old Testament, including verse 22 of this chapter (where Revised Standard Version has “consider well”) and 2 Kgs 5.7, asks the hearer to pay close attention. Some possible models of translation are “You yourselves can see clearly” (Bible en français courant) and “See for yourselves” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Now renders the Hebrew particle of entreaty, which is often translated “I pray” or “please” (see the comments on 1 Kgs 1.12 and 2.17).
He sent to me …: The words “a message” (Good News Translation) or “messengers” (Nouvelle Bible Segond) may be added according to the sense. In many languages some such addition will be required.
New Jerusalem Bible corrected the text of verse 3 to say that Ahab could keep his wives and children. Because of that change in the Hebrew text, New Jerusalem Bible has corrected verse 7 also to correspond to it. New Jerusalem Bible reads “He has already demanded my wives and my children, although I have not refused him my silver and gold.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, however, gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text.
The reason that some interpreters have corrected the Masoretic Text in verses 3 and 7 is easy to understand. According to verse 3 in the Masoretic Text, Benhadad demands Ahab’s wives, children, gold, and silver. Ahab agrees to this demand in verse 4. Why, then, is Ahab now so angry in verse 7 since he has already agreed to give his wives, children, gold, and silver to Benhadad?
The end of verse 7 in the Septuagint reads “for he has sent to me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my daughters; my silver and my gold I did not withhold from him.” This suggests to some interpreters that Benhadad had initially demanded only Ahab’s money and not his wives and children, and Ahab had agreed. But now that Benhadad demands Ahab’s wives and children also, Ahab refuses to agree. On this assumption, the end of verse 3 is changed to read “your wives and your children are yours,” as in New Jerusalem Bible. Translators are, however, not advised to follow 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 .
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