priest

Click here to view graphically

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, 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 (Dinė)), ‘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.

See also idolatrous priests.

complete verse (2 Chronicles 22:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 22:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “There was a woman who was called Jehosheba who was a daughter of Jehoram. When the sons of the king were about to be killed, that woman took a small boy who was called Joash and fled with him. She kept that child alive with his nurse in a bedroom. She hid that boy so that Athaliah did not kill him. Jehosheba did like that because she was a sister to Ahaziah. And again she was the wife of Jehoiada who was priest.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Hearing this, the King’s older sister, to save her suckling nephew Joash, she took [him] and his nursemaid from among the king’s sons. Jehosheba was the daughter of king Jehoram and the wife of Jehoiada the priest, and the younger sister of king Ahaziah. She hid them in a room in the temple.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But Jehosheba saved Joas the child of Ahazia when he is about to-be-killed and the other children of the king. Jehosheba was the sibling of Ahazia and daughter of King Jehoram, and wife of the priest Jehoyada. He hid Joash and his nurse-helper in a room of the tempel, so Atalia was not able-to-kill him.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, took Joash, Ahaziah’s very young son, away from the other sons of the king who were about to be murdered, and she hid him and his nursemaid in a bedroom in the temple. Because Jehosheba, who was the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of the Supreme Priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child, with the result that Athaliah could not kill him.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

king

Click here to view graphically

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:

(Click or tap here to see details)

  • 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 2 Chronicles 22:11

But Jeho-shabe-ath, the daughter of the king, took Joash … and stole him away from among the king’s sons …: But renders the common Hebrew conjunction. Here it marks the contrast between the desperate situation described in the preceding verses and the hope offered in what follows. The majority of versions use the connector “But.” However, it is also possible to understand the Hebrew conjunction as expressing the logical result, so NET Bible uses the connector “So.”

Jeho-shabe-ath is called “Jehosheba” in the Septuagint and in the parallel text of 2 Kgs 11.2. Some versions use the name “Jehosheba” here in 2 Chronicles also (so Good News Translation, New International Version, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant). As the second part of this verse makes clear, she was the daughter of King Jehoram, which means that she was the sister of King Ahaziah and the aunt of Joash. New Century Version renders the daughter of the king as “King Jehoram’s daughter” for clarity. Bible en français courant calls her “the princess Jehosheba,” and New American Bible similarly says “Jehosheba, a royal princess.”

The verbs took and stole may have to be translated by a single verb plus an adverb in some languages. The idea is that Jehosheba “secretly took” (New American Bible) her nephew so that no harm could be done to him.

The king’s sons may be rendered “the other sons of the king” (New Century Version) since Joash was also a son of King Ahaziah.

Who were about to be slain: This passive expression may be made active by saying “whom Athaliah was about to kill” or “whom they [indefinite] were about to murder.”

And she put him and his nurse in a bedchamber: The Hebrew word rendered nurse is a participle that comes from the causative form of the verb meaning “to suck.” This word should not to be taken here in the sense of a person with special medical training, but rather should be understood as a “nursemaid.” Such women were hired to take care of small children, and in some cases even to nourish them with their own milk. In this context the meaning may be expressed in modern English as “caregiver.”

Bedchamber probably refers to one of the private bedrooms in the Temple area which were destined for use only by the priests and their families. Because Jehosheba was the wife of a priest, she was apparently able to hide her nephew in one of the private rooms that were normally used only by the priests. In Hebrew bedchamber is literally “inner room of the beds,” so some interpreters believe this refers not to a bedroom but rather to a room where the covers and cloths for the beds were kept. This interpretation is the basis for the NET Bible rendering “room where the bed covers were stored.” This Hebrew expression is better rendered “bedroom” (Good News Translation, New Century Version, New American Bible; see WTH, page 144|fig:WTH.3.1.6.7.Bedroom.144.html) or “sleeping quarters” (New Jerusalem Bible). Good News Translation and Bible en français courant make it explicit that this bedroom was “in the Temple,” bringing this information forward from verse 12.

Thus Jeho-shabe-ath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest … hid him from Athaliah: This clause repeats much of the information in the first half of the verse, so it serves as a summary. Revised Standard Version indicates this by rendering the common Hebrew conjunction as Thus. New Century Version is similar with the connector “So.” Jehoiada is described as the priest. But the definite article may be misleading since there were many priests. 2 Chr 24.6 says he was the chief priest.

Jehosheba rescued Joash because she was a sister of Ahaziah. According to some interpreters, 2 Kgs 11.2 suggests that Jehosheba had a different mother from Ahaziah. Furthermore, Josephus (the first-century Jewish historian) and Jerome (the translator of the Latin Vulgate) thought that Jehosheba was the daughter of Jehoram but not of Athaliah since she was not loyal to Athaliah. This interpretation is the basis for the Good News Translation translation of sister as “half sister.” But nowhere in the Old Testament is it said that Jehoram had another wife, so it is better to follow Revised Standard Version and most other translations in saying that she was the sister of Ahaziah.

So that she did not slay him may be rendered “so that Athaliah could not murder him” (New Living Translation).

Good News Translation restructures this verse by providing the essential information about the relationships first and then giving the details of how Joash managed to escape death. This restructuring may also be a good model for many other languages.

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 .