The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Kings 12:1:
Kupsabiny: “Joash began to rule the country of Judah when Jehu had seven years having ruled in Israel. He ruled from the city of Jerusalem forty years. His mother was called Zibiah who came from Beersheba.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Joash became king when Jehu had been king of Israel for seven years. He reigned in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother was Zibiah of Beersheba.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Joash became king of Juda in the seventh year of the reign of Jehu in Israel. Joash lived in Jerusalem, and he reigned for a period/[lit. inside] of 40 years. His mother was Zibia who comes-from-Beersheba.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “When Jehu had been ruling Israel for almost seven years, Joash became the king of Judah. He ruled in Jerusalem for 40 years. His mother was Zibiah, from Beersheba city.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
For the form of the name Jehoash, see the comments at 2 Kgs 11.21. Unless translators use one form of the name consistently for the same person, readers are likely to be confused. So “Joash” is recommended.
The seventh year of Jehu refers to his rule as king over Israel and not to his age. It is probably a good idea to provide this information clearly in translation as some common language translations have done (for example, Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).
The remainder of this verse follows the standard formula for introducing a king, telling how long Joash ruled and where his capital city was located, as well as providing his mother’s name and city of origin. Since the expression Zibiah of Beersheba might possibly be misunderstood by readers who do not know that Beersheba is a city, it will be helpful to add the classifier term “city” in translation as Good News Translation has done. Beersheba was located in the southern part of Judah.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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