The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “serve,” “minister,” “walk with,” or “service” is translated in Igede as myị ẹrụ or “agree with message (of the one you’re serving).” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
In Quetzaltepec Mixe, “serve” is translated as “obey.” (Source: Robert Bascom)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 34:20:
Kupsabiny: “After that, he called Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micaiah together with Shaphan who was secretary and Asaiah who helped/assisted the king. He told those people,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Giving orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asiah, the king’s personal advisor, speaking like this, he sent them to the temple.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Then he commanded Hilkia, Ahikam the child of Shafan, Abdon the child of Micas, and Shafan the secretary, and Asaya his personal servant. He said,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then he gave these instructions to Hilkiah, to Shaphan’s son Ahikam, to Micah’s son Abdon, to Shaphan, and to Asaiah the king’s special advisor:” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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:
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.”
And the king commanded …: This verse contains a formal listing of the people to whom the king gave the orders about consulting Yahweh. Hilkiah and Shaphan have already been mentioned, but this is the first mention of Ahikam (Jer 26.34; 39.14), Abdon (who is called “Achbor” in 2 Kgs 22.12, 14 and in Jer 26.22; 36.12), and Asaiah. Ahikam and Abdon are identified only in terms of their fathers’ names. Nothing is said of their occupations. These two prominent individuals are probably the same as those mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. Some modern versions change Abdon to “Achbor” to harmonize the spelling with that in the parallel passage of 2 Kgs 22 (so New Living Translation, An American Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Luther). But translators should not harmonize the names in this case since it is not a matter of two forms of the same name.
Asaiah is said to be the king’s servant, which probably refers to the special steward of the king who looked after his personal needs. The term servant has been rendered “attendant” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible), “minister” (New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), and “official” (Moffatt).
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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