elder (of the community)

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the Danish Bibelen 2020 as folkets ledere or “leaders of the people.”

Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators, explains: “The term ‘elder’ turned out to pose a particularly thorny problem. In traditional bibles, you can find elders all of over the place and they never pose a problem for a translator, they are just always elders. But how to find a contemporary term for this semi-official, complex position? This may have been our longest-standing problem. A couple of times we thought we had the solution, and then implemented it throughout the texts, only to find out that it didn’t work. Like when we used city council or village council, depending on the context. In the end we felt that the texts didn’t work with such official terms, and throughout the years in the desert, these terms didn’t make much sense. Other suggestions were ‘the eldest and wisest’, ‘the respected citizens’, ‘the Israelites with a certain position in society’, ‘the elder council’ –- and let me point out that these terms sound better in Danish than in English (‘de fremtrædende borgere,’ ‘de mest fremtrædende israelitter,’ ‘alle israelitter med en vis position,’ ‘de ældste og de klogeste,’ ‘ældsterådet’). In the end we just said ‘leaders of the people.’ After a lot of hand-wringing, it turned out that we actually found a term that worked well. So, we had to give up conveying the fact that they were old, but the most important point is that they were community leaders.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )

The German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).

Levite

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic 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

For the sign in Spanish Sign Language, see Levi.

More information about Levites .

Translation commentary on 2 Chronicles 5:4

And all the elders of Israel came: The elders of Israel refers to the same group mentioned by this title in verse 2. Since verse 4 does not refer to another gathering of the elders, in addition to that in verse 2, many English versions use the past perfect tense here, for example, “had gathered” (Good News Translation) and “had arrived” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible).

And the Levites took up the ark: For Levites see the comments on 1 Chr 9.2. According to Num 1.50 and 1 Chr 15.2, only the Levites were to carry the ark. The ark of the covenant had four feet, with a gold ring attached to each foot. Poles were inserted through the rings to carry the ark (see Exo 25.12-15; 1 Chr 15.15). These poles were to remain in the rings of the ark and not removed. The Levites carried the ark by lifting the poles and placing them on their shoulders. Most translations follow the Hebrew rather literally by saying the Levites took up or “lifted” (Good News Translation) the ark. However, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “the Levites lifted the ark up on their shoulders.”

Revised Standard Version takes this verse as a complete sentence, but Good News Translation restructures it, making the first half a temporal clause and completing the sentence in verse 5 (so also New International Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible). Translators should adopt whichever structure suits the receptor language at this point.

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 .