king

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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:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • 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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on 1 Maccabees 15:25

Antiochus the king besieged Dor anew: As we resume the narrative from verse 14, the Greek phrase rendered anew presents serious problems. This phrase is literally “on/in the second,” which is usually interpreted to mean “for a second time” (Good News Bible). Some manuscripts read “on the second day,” which does not make any sense here. The events told in verses 13-14 could not have taken place in one day, and the rest of this verse could hardly have taken place in one day. “For a second time” also does not make sense here. According to verse 14, Antiochus with his large army and navy had surrounded Trypho and his small band of supporters. If he abandoned his advantage, left, and returned to besiege the city a second time, he would surely find that Trypho had escaped while he was away. La Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and Abel take the Greek phrase to mean “from the suburb,” perhaps implying that Antiochus moved his camp. This assumes that “on/in the second” translates a Hebrew word referring to “the second quarter” of a city (La Bible Pléiade “the new quarter”), as seems to be the case in 2~Kgs 22.14. Presumably New Jerusalem Bible is following this sense by translating “from his positions on the outskirts of Dora,” which makes sense, but obviously an army besieging a city has to be on its outskirts. The problem with this approach, apart from its reliance on a single Old Testament reference that is itself not really certain, is that it produces quite pointless information. The same may be said of the suggestion that “on the second day” refers to Monday. We are convinced, with New American Bible and Goldstein, that this phrase is nothing more than a scribal comment placed in the margin of a manuscript that was later copied into the text. It was surely meant to mark the resumption of the narrative after the interruption of verses 15-24. The reading “on the second day” would have arisen as later scribes tried to make sense of the odd phrase that had found its way into the text. We recommend that translators follow New American Bible and omit the phrase, and add the following footnote: “Probable text; Greek adds on the second or on the second day.” An alternative model for this clause is “Antiochus~VII was still besieging [or, surrounding] the town of Dor.”

Continually throwing his forces against it may be rendered “His soldiers were attacking the town continuously.”

And making engines of war: For engines of war, see the comments on 1Macc 5.30.

And he shut Trypho up and kept him from going out or in: Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible miss a point here. Trypho and all his men were already in the city. Antiochus could keep them from coming out, but the reference to going in could only refer to other people, possibly to reinforcements. New English Bible is better with “and blockaded Trypho, preventing all movement in or out of the town.” Another possible model is “He had Trypho trapped in the town. Trypho’s men could not get out, and no one else could get in.”

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.