17Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their youths with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or young woman, the aged or the feeble; he gave them all into his hand.
The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is typically as “compassion” in English (“compassion” comes from the Latincompatior and means suffering with) is translated in various ways:
Shilluk´: “cries in the soul” (source: Nida, 1952, p. 132)
The people/leaders of Judah selected Josiah’s son Jehoahaz to assume his father’s mantle of kingship in Jerusalem. When Jehoahaz began his reign, he was 23 years old, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months. But the Pharaoh of Egypt, Neco, deposed him [Jehoahaz] and forced the land of Judah to pay a tribute of 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold. Pharaoh Neco selected Eliakim — Jehoahaz’s brother — to become the king, ruling Judah from Jerusalem. Neco changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. What of his brother Jehoahaz? Neco took him to Egypt.
When Jehoiakim began his reign, he was 25 years old, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. He did many actions that were wicked in the sight of YHWH. So Nebuchadnezzar [gives name sign], who ruled Babylon came and attacked [Jerusalem], defeating Jehoiakim and bounding him up in bronze chains to be taken back to Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar also pillaged YHWH his temple, taking some of the gold, silver, and precious vessels from there. He took these things back with him to Babylon and placed them in the temple at his palace.
All of Jehoiakim’s other deeds during his reign, and all of his wicked actions that people found out against him, all of them have been recorded in the scroll-book of the kings of Israel and Judah. His [Jehoiakim’s] son Jehoiachin became the next king.
When Jehoiachin began his reign, he was 18 years old, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 3 months, 10 days. He also did many actions that were wicked in the sight of YHWH his God. When spring came, King Nebuchadnezzar sent [men] to seize Jehoiachin and bring him to Babylon, along with more gold, silver, and precious vessels from YHWH his temple. Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah was chosen by King Nebuchadnezzar to become the next king in Jerusalem, to rule Judah.
When Zedekiah began his reign, he was 21 years old, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. He did many actions that were wicked in the sight of YHWH. Jeremiah [gives name sign], the prophet of God, brought many messages from YHWH to warn (Zedekiah), but did Zedekiah take these warnings to heart? No. He arrogantly blew off Jeremiah and his messages.
Formerly, King Nebuchadnezzar had demanded a vow of fealty from Zedekiah; he (Zedekiah) had given an oath by God’s name that he would be a loyal vassal, but now in spite of that, Zedekiah rebelled [against Nebuchadnezzar]. He (Zedekiah) refused to turn back to YHWH, the God of Israel. He was stubborn and stiff-necked, hardening his heart. Even worse, the priests and all of the leaders of the people all turned away from God, falling deeper and deeper into the idol worship and detestable practices of the other nations who lived in the lands surrounding Judah. They (the people of Judah) flung themselves into those practices, doing wicked, detestable things that defiled the holy temple of YHWH, making it no longer holy in His sight.
YHWH, the God who their ancestors had worshiped, had compassion on His people and His temple where he dwelt, so He frequently sent different prophets to warn the people, but the people scoffed at His messengers and mocked them, ignoring God’s words and insulting the prophets until God’s anger finally burned over and He set himself against His people. He’d had enough, and no amount of cajoling or pacifying could turn away his imminent wrath.
So YHWH sent the Babylonian king with his armies to come and seize Judah. The young men in the temple, [the king’s] soldiers slashed down and killed them. The king had no pity for young men or young women, the elderly or the weak, no compassion at all. All of them, He [God] allowed King Nebuchadnezzar to seize under his control. All of the remaining gold, silver, and other precious vessels in the temple, great and small — all of it — all the wealth, and the king’s wealth, and the king’s officials’ wealth, King Nebuchadnezzar seized everything and carted it away to Babylon.
King Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers set fire to YHWH’s temple, burning it down. The city walls of Jerusalem, they smashed into rubble. The king’s palace, and all of the official buildings, they also set to fire, burning them all. Any remaining valuable things were destroyed.
Any people left alive who did not fall to the sword were captured and taken to Babylon in exile, as servants under the king and his descendants until the time the kingdom of Persia was established.
All these events fulfilled the prophecies that YHWH had given to Jeremiah; this message was: The land would be left desolate with nobody there, at which time the land would finally be still, enjoying its sabbaths at long last, resting for 70 years. This was the prophecy spoken by Jeremiah.
At a later time, Cyrus, the king of Persia, took the throne of the empire, [and] during the first year of his reign, YHWH touched the heart of Cyrus, the king of Persia. He had it proclaimed throughout the empire and also put in writing, “I, Cyrus, the king of Persia, I hereby declare that YHWH, the God of Heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms on earth, has chosen me for the task of rebuilding His temple for him in Jerusalem, in Judah. Any of you who are His people, you may go back, and I pray YHWH your God will go with you.” All of these events were brought about by YHWH, to fulfill His word that Jeremiah had prophesied.
The name that is transliterated as “Chaldean” in English means “astrologer,” “wanderers.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) it is translated with the sign that combines “Mesopotamia” (see here) and “spreading out,” since the Chaldeans originated in southern Mesopotamia and spread out from there. (Source: Missão Kophós )
The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “sanctuary” in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) with opatulika or “separated place.” This is understood in a religious setup as a place designated for worship. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 36:17:
Kupsabiny: “So, God sent the king of Babylon to fight against them. The soldiers of that king killed the young warriors of Judah in the Home of God. Those people had no mercy for any young man or woman. They killed them all whether an old man or a young boy. God gave all those people into the hands of the king of Babylon.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “That being the case, the LORD brought the king of Babylon to attack them. That king killed the young men of Judah inside the temple. He spared no one [lit.: left no remainder] — young men, old men women, not even the feeble ones. God gave them all into his hand.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “He had- those of/from-Babilonia -attack them. Those of/from-Babilonia killed their young men even in the temple. They do- not -have-compassion even to any anyone, man or woman, young or old, sickly or not. God handed-over his people to Nebuchadnezzar.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “He incited the king of Babylonia to attack Judah with his army. They killed the young men with their swords, even in the temple. They did not spare/pity anyone, young men or young women or old people. God enabled the army of Nebuchadnezzar to kill all of them.” (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.”
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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, watas-are-ru (渡される) or “hand over” is used.
Therefore renders the common Hebrew conjunction as a logical connector, which is appropriate in this context. Other versions use the similar connector “So” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation, New Century Version, God’s Word). But New International Version and Revised English Bible omit the conjunction here.
He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans: The pronoun he refers to the LORD, which Good News Translation and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente make explicit. Brought up against them may be rendered “caused … to attack them” or “made … to fight against them.” The Chaldeans lived in southern Babylonia on the Persian Gulf. Under the rule of Nabopolassar, they captured the city of Babylon in 622 B.C. The term Chaldea then became a synonym for “Babylonia” (so Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).
Who slew their young men with the sword …: In the Hebrew text the verbs rendered brought up, slew, had … compassion, and gave seem to have the same subject. Who slew is literally “and he slew.” Since God is the subject of the first verb and the last verb, some interpreters think that God is also the subject of the verbs slew and had … compassion. Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most other versions make the Babylonian king the subject of the middle verbs. But New Jerusalem Bible seems to have God as the subject of all four verbs. Of course, it was the Babylonian soldiers (so Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) and not strictly speaking the Babylonian king (so Good News Translation) who killed the young men of Judah, but the writer seems to say that they were simply carrying out God’s will. The verb slew is somewhat archaic, so New Revised Standard Version and most other modern versions say “killed.” The Hebrew word translated young men is the plural of the same word rendered young man in this verse. Some interpreters think that the meaning of the Hebrew word should be understood to mean “elite” in light of a cognate noun in the Mari writings, which refers to elite or select soldiers. This understanding is the basis for the La Bible Pléiade rendering “elite men.” But most interpreters do not find this nuance in the Hebrew term. For the phrase with the sword, see the comments on 2 Chr 21.4.
The house of their sanctuary may be rendered simply “the Temple” (Good News Translation). See the comments on 1 Chr 22.19.
And had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged: For the Hebrew verb rendered had … compassion, see the comments on verse 15. The Hebrew word translated virgin is rendered “young woman” in New Revised Standard Version. In this context it refers to any young woman and stands in opposition to young man. The point of the list here is to include all people of whatever age or sex. It also includes people who may be in poor health or in good health. The Hebrew term for aged refers to the weakness that comes with old age. For this reason Revised English Bible translates old man or aged as “neither the old nor the weak.” Some other renderings are “the aged or the feeble” (New Revised Standard Version) and “the old people or the sick people” (God’s Word).
He gave them all into his hand: The pronoun he refers to God and the pronoun his refers to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia. In some languages one or both of these pronouns will have to be translated by a noun; for example, New International Version and New Century Version say “God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar,” Revised English Bible has “God gave them all into his power,” and Contemporary English Version translates “God let him kill everyone in the city.” This took place just as Jeremiah had prophesied (see Jer 21.1-10; 34.1-5; see also Ezek 12.12-14). The word hand is used here as an image for power.
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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