The term that is transliterated as “Nebuchadnezzar” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the signs for “king” and one signifying a wavy beard, referring to the common way of wearing a beard in Mesopotamia (see here ). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Nebuchadnezzar” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting “idol in my image,” referring to Daniel 3:1. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “bronze” in English is translated in Newari as “bell-metal,” since bells are made of bronze in Nepal (source: Newari Back Translation).
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.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 36:6:
Kupsabiny: “After that, Nebuchadnezzar the one who was the king of Babylon came to fight against Jehoiakim. That king tied Jehoiakim in chains of bronze and took him to Babylon.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked Judah. He bound Jehoiakim with bronze chains and took him off to Babylon.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “King Nebuchadnezzar of Babilonia attacked him and bound-(him)-with-chain, and brought (him) to Babilonia.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jehoiakim’s army. They captured Jehoiakim and bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.” (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.”
Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon: Revised Standard Version‘s literal structure here may be awkward if imitated in other languages. It may be much more natural to adopt a structure like that of Good News Translation. Against him came up may be better rendered “attacked him” (New International Version) or “made war against him” (La Bible du Semeur). Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylonia for forty-three years (605–562 B.C.). King of Babylon refers not just to his kingship over the city of Babylon, but the entire territory of Babylonia. In this clause Babylon is better rendered “Babylonia” (Good News Translation; see the comments on 1 Chr 9.1). According to Jer 25.1, it was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign that Jeremiah received the message from the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar would attack Judah. This attack occurred in the years 604–603 B.C.
And bound him in fetters: See the comments on 2 Chr 33.11. As there, the fetters were made of “bronze,” which should be made explicit (so New International Version, Revised English Bible, Nouvelle Bible Segond, El libro del Pueblo de Dios, Peregrino.
To take him to Babylon: In this clause Babylon refers to Babylonia’s capital city, so Contemporary English Version says “the capital city of Babylon.” The Hebrew text does not actually say that Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiakim to Babylon, only that he bound him to take him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar may have taken Jehoiakim to Babylon, but some scholars think that Jehoiakim actually died in Jerusalem (see 2 Kgs 24.1-6). The first-century A.D. Jewish historian Josephus says that Jehoiakim was killed in Jerusalem at Nebuchadnezzar’s command. Even though a number of versions say that Nebuchadnezzar actually “took him to Babylonia/Babylon” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), translators should follow Revised Standard Version here and not say more than the Hebrew text says. Of course, it is possible that the Chronicler did intend to say that Nebuchadnezzar actually took Jehoiakim to Babylon.
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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