elder (of the community)

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the Danish Bibelen 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 German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).

priest

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that are typically translated as “priest” in English (itself deriving from Latin “presbyter” — “elder”) is often translated with a consideration of existing religious traditions. (Click or tap for details)

Bratcher / Nida (1961) say this:

“However, rather than borrow local names for priests, some of which have unwanted connotations, a number of translations have employed descriptive phrases based on certain functions: (1) those describing a ceremonial activity: Pamona uses tadu, the priestess who recites the litanies in which she describes her journey to the upper or under-world to fetch life-spirit for sick people, animals or plants; Batak Toba uses the Arabic malim, ‘Muslim religious teacher;’ ‘one who presents man’s sacrifice to God’ (Bambara, Eastern Maninkakan), ‘one who presents sacrifices’ (Baoulé, Navajo), ‘one who takes the name of the sacrifice’ (Kpelle, and ‘to make a sacrifice go out’ (Hausa); (2) those describing an intermediary function: ‘one who speaks to God’ (Shipibo-Conibo) and ‘spokesman of the people before God’ (Tabasco Chontal).”

In Obolo it is translated as ogwu ngwugwa or “the one who offers sacrifice” (source: Enene Enene), in Mairasi as agam aevar nevwerai: “religious leader” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Ignaciano as “blesser, one who does ritual as a practice” (using a generic term rather than the otherwise common Spanish loan word sacerdote) (source: Willis Ott in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.), and in Noongar as yakin-kooranyi or “holy worker” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

For Guhu-Samane, Ernest Richert (in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. ) reports this:

“The [local] cult of Poro used to be an all-encompassing religious system that essentially governed all areas of life. (…) For ‘priest’ the term ‘poro father’ would at first seem to be a natural choice. However, several priests of the old cult are still living. Although they no longer function primarily as priests of the old system they still have a substantial influence on the community, and there would be more than a chance that the unqualified term would (in some contexts particularly) be equated with the priest of the poro cult. We learned, then, that the poro fathers would sometimes be called ‘knife men’ in relation to their sacrificial work. The panel was pleased to apply this term to the Jewish priest, and the Christian community has adopted it fully. [Mark 1:44, for instance, now] reads: ‘You must definitely not tell any man of this. But you go show your body to the knife man and do what Moses said about a sacrifice concerning your being healed, and the cause (base of this) will be apparent.'”

For a revision of the 1968 version of the Bible in Khmer Joseph Hong (in: The Bible Translator 1996, 233ff. ) talks about a change in wording for this term:

​​Bau cha r (បូជា‌ចារ្យ) — The use of this new construction meaning “priest” is maintained to translate the Greek word hiereus. The term “mean sang (មាន សង្ឃ)” used in the old version actually means a “Buddhist monk,” and is felt to be theologically misleading. The Khmer considers the Buddhist monk as a “paddy field of merits,” a reserve of merits to be shared with other people. So a Khmer reader would find unthinkable that the mean sang in the Bible killed animals, the gravest sin for a Buddhist; and what a scandal it would be to say that a mean sang was married, had children, and drank wine.

Translation commentary on 1 Maccabees 14:28

In Asaramel: Most versions follow the Greek texts of Rahlfs and Kappler by putting this phrase in verse 27, which we recommend. Good News Bible does not translate the word Asaramel, but places the footnote signifying its absence in verse 27. This word is a puzzle. Some scholars think it refers to a place; others think it is one of Simon’s titles. No one knows. Most scholars trying to make sense of it try to reconstruct a Hebrew original that the Greek translator would have misunderstood as a placename. Some think the Hebrew said “the outer court [of the Temple] of the people of God.” Others think it said “the prince of the people of God,” a title given to Simon. There are other conjectures. We would happily recommend one of these approaches if there were reasonable assurance of its accuracy, but there is no consensus. Since this is so, and it is the Greek text we are translating and not a Hebrew text, we can only offer translators the following two options:

1. Follow Revised Standard Version and say “in [or, at] Asaramel.” It will not mean anything, but it will at least represent the text, and in the ears of some hearers may even add a note of solemnity that would be appropriate to the context.
2. Follow Good News Bible by omitting it in translation and putting this footnote after the last word of verse 27: “*Greek here adds in Asaramel, the meaning of which is unclear.”

In the great assembly of the priests and the people and the rulers of the nation and the elders of the country, the following was proclaimed to us: This verse and the previous one are a highly formal introduction to the proclamation in honor of Simon which begins in the next verse. Some translators may be aware of some similar form used in their own cultural situation which might be adapted for use here. The important thing is that translators convey the solemnity and legal nature of the proclamation. The reader must understand that the leaders of the nation are awarding Simon the highest honors they can think of. The great assembly refers to a formal and official gathering of the nation’s leaders. This phrase is better rendered “a great assembly” (Good News Bible), since this meeting is mentioned for the first time here. Contemporary English Version says “an important meeting,” which is good. The rulers of the nation probably refers to “officials” (Good News Bible). Simon was the ruler of Judea. The elders of the country is translated well by Good News Bible as “national leaders” (see 1Macc 7.33), but we may also say “leaders of the people of Judea.” In languages that do not have the passive voice, the following was proclaimed to us may be rendered “they told us [or, made known to us] the following things.”

We suggest the following model for verse 28:

• Our priests, representatives of the people, officials, and leaders of the nation held a great [or, important] assembly and made known to us the following facts:

We may also combine the last half of verse 27 and verse 28 as follows:

• The following proclamation to the Jewish people was made on the eighteenth day of the month Elul, in the year 172 of the Syrian Kingdom (the third year that Simon the great High Priest ruled), by the entire assembly [or, the Great Assembly] of the priests, officials, and leaders of the people of Judea:~….

• After Simon the great High Priest had ruled [in Asaramel] almost three years, our priests, officials, and leaders of the people held a great [or, important] assembly [or, meeting] on the eighteenth day of the month of Elul in the year 172 of the Syrian Kingdom. This is what they proclaimed to us:~….

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.