prostitute oneself / play the prostitute

The Hebrew that is translated as “prostitute oneself” or “play the prostitute” in English is translated in Vidunda as “(practice) sexual immorality.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

high places

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. )

Judah, Judea

The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)


“Judah” and “Judea” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Judah, Judah (son of Jacob) , and Tribe of Judah .

Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jerusalem .

complete verse (2 Chronicles 21:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 21:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “And again he prepared where sacrifices were done to idols on the hills of Judah. Then, he made the people who lived in Jerusalem to withdraw from God and the people of Judah got lost.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “And he provoked the people of Judah and Jerusalem to sin against the LORD.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He had-built places-of-worship on the hills of Juda which was the reason that those of/from-Jerusalem and of/from-Juda worship false-gods.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “On the hilltops in Judah he had also built shrines to worship idols, and had caused the people of Judah to stray away from Yahweh by worshiping foreign gods.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Chronicles 21:11

Moreover he made high places in the hill country of Judah: The Hebrew particle rendered Moreover may be better translated “even” (Contemporary English Version, La Bible du Semeur) or “also” (New International Version, New American Bible). New Jerusalem Bible translates “What is more.” Revised English Bible has “and because,” which continues the sentence begun in the previous verse. By doing this, Revised English Bible makes this verse more clearly a continuation of the explanation of why Jehoram was unable to put down the rebellion. The pronoun for he is emphatic in Hebrew. Bible de Jérusalem and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible attempt to bring this out in translation, but few other modern versions do so. For high places, see the comments on 1 Chr 16.39 and 2 Chr 1.3.

Instead of the hill country of Judah, a number of Hebrew, Greek and Latin manuscripts have “the cities of Judah,” and this reading is followed by some translations, including Luther and Osty-Trinquet. But most versions follow the Masoretic Text with the hill country of Judah; for example, New American Bible and Anchor Bible say “the mountains of Judah,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “the highlands of Judah.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating to this reading and notes that the expression “cities of Judah” occurs sixteen times in the Old Testament, five times in relation to the location of the high places. So it is more likely that scribes changed the unusual expression hill country of Judah to the more common “cities of Judah.” In Hebrew only the second consonant is different in the spelling of the words for hill country and “cities.”

And led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into unfaithfulness: Led … into unfaithfulness translates a Hebrew verb whose basic meaning is “to commit fornication” (see 1 Chr 5.25, where it is rendered “played the harlot”). Nouvelle Bible Segond translates “delivered … to prostitution.” In this context the verb must be understood metaphorically in terms of the people’s unfaithful relation to God. Good News Translation provides one way of making this clear by saying “led … to sin against the LORD.” Bible en français courant similarly says “encouraging … to be unfaithful to the true God.”

And made Judah go astray is parallel to the previous clause and has essentially the same meaning. Led … into unfaithfulness is equivalent to made … go astray. And Jerusalem is a part of Judah. So it may be better to translate these two clauses as “and led the people of Jerusalem to sin, yes, he led all the people of Judah away from the LORD” or “and led the people of Jerusalem and the rest of Judah to be unfaithful to the LORD.” Good News Translation collapses the parallelism by saying simply “and led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to sin against the LORD.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .