Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Kings 14:29:
Kupsabiny: “After that, king Jeroboam died and then he was buried where his forefathers were buried those who were kings in Israel. Then, his son who was called Zechariah ruled replacing his father.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Jeroboam died, as had his ancestors. He was buried in a tomb where the kings are buried. Zechariah, his son, became king in his place.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “When Jeroboam II died, he was-buried in the burial-place of the kings of Israel. And Zacarias his child/(son) was the one-who-succeeded him as king.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Jeroboam #2 died , and was buried where the other kings of Israel were buried, and his son Zechariah became the king.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, 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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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.”
This verse follows the usual formula for describing the transition from one ruler to another.
Slept with his fathers: See the comments on 1 Kgs 1.21 and 2.10. One manuscript of the Septuagint, followed by New Jerusalem Bible and Osty-Trinquet, adds “and he was buried in Samaria” after this expression. These words may indeed be original, as in verse 16, and may have been accidentally omitted, but most modern versions follow the Masoretic Text.
Reference to the kings of Israel may have to be rendered “the other kings of Israel” since Jeroboam II was also a king of Israel. But this may depend on the precise wording of the receptor language rendering. See the comments on 2 Kgs 13.13.
It may be helpful in some translations to add a note informing the reader that the king named Zechariah in this passage is not the same person as the prophet Zechariah mentioned elsewhere in the Bible.
Reigned in his stead: See the comments at 1 Kgs 11.43.
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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