7The Levites shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand, and whoever enters the house shall be killed. Stay with the king in his comings and goings.”
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin that is transliterated “Levites” in English (only the Contemporary English Version translates it as “temple helpers”) is translated in Ojitlán Chinantec as “temple caretakers,” Yatzachi Zapotec as “people born in the family line of Levi, people whose responsibility it was to do the work in the important church of the Israelites,” in Alekano as “servants in the sacrifice house from Jerusalem place,” and in Tenango Otomi as “helpers of priests.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
In American Sign Language with a sign that combines “temple” + “servant.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Levite” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 23:7:
Kupsabiny: “The Levites must take up their weapons (tools of battle) and guard the son of the king from all sides. And any person who tries to enter the House of God, that one is to be killed. You must be with the son of the king in every place that he goes to.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Holding their weapons, the Levites must stay all around the king. If anyone comes inside the temple he must be killed. No matter where the King goes they must stay with him.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The Levites should guard the king carefully/[lit. good], that their weapons/arms prepared, and they will-follow him wherever he goes. Whoever enters the temple who (is) not a priest of Levite should be-killed.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “You descendants of Levi must stand around the young king, each of you with your weapon in your hand. Anyone else who tries to enter the temple you must kill. And stay close to the young king, wherever he goes.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, 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 (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.”
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
The Levites shall surround the king: Since the previous verses indicate other duties for some Levites, Bible en français courant renders The Levites as “The other Levites.” Good News Translation makes explicit why the Levites surround their king by using the verb “stand guard.” Contemporary English Version is similar with “protect,” and so is New Living Translation with “form a bodyguard around.” The king refers to Joash, which Contemporary English Version makes explicit by saying “King Joash.”
Each with his weapons in his hand: The weapons were most likely “swords” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). Swords are normally kept in their sheathes when there is no immediate danger. But the extreme threat to the safety of Joash in the situation foreseen here requires that the swords be drawn and ready for action. According to Contemporary English Version, the swords must be “ready to kill.”
And whoever enters the house shall be slain: The house refers to the Temple. The passive verb shall be slain may be easily transformed into an active one since it is quite clear who the agents are. It is the protective guard of Levites who are to kill any intruder. So this whole clause may be rendered “The guards [or, Levites] must kill anyone who enters the Temple” or simply “They must kill any person who comes into the Temple.”
Be with the king when he comes in, and when he goes out: The Levite guards are to stay with the king all the time. When he comes in, and when he goes out is a common Hebrew idiom meaning “wherever he goes” (Good News Translation, New International Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, Knox) and should probably not be translated literally in most languages.
The long quotation in verses 3b-7 may be made into indirect speech in those languages where direct discourse is not acceptable here. A possible model for this is as follows:
• Jehoiada told them that the son of King Ahaziah who had died must now be their ruler, just as the LORD had promised concerning the descendants of David. 4 Then he gave them the following rules: A third of the priests and Levites who go on duty on the Day of Rest must guard the Temple gates, 5 a third of them must guard the royal palace, and a third must guard the Foundation Gate; and all the other people must gather in the courtyards of the Temple. 6 No one should enter the Temple except the priests and the Levites on duty; they may enter because they are ceremonially pure, but all the others must observe the LORD’s command not to enter the Temple. 7 The Levites must stand guard around the king, each one with his weapons ready. They must stay close to the king wherever he goes. Anyone who enters the Temple must be put to death.
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 .
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