9In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria came up against Samaria, besieged it,
The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin that is transliterated as “Hezekiah” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the signs for “king” and “facing the wall” referring to Isaiah 38:2. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
In Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) it is translated with a sign that signifies a model, a parameter for his life, referring to “he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his ancestor David had done” of 2 Kings 18:3. (Source: Missão Kophós )
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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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.”
The information in verses 9-12 repeats for the most part the contents of 2 Kgs 17.3-6. The events in verses 9-12 most likely refer to an earlier time than the events in verses 7b-8.
As in verse 1, most modern translations omit the Hebrew verbal transition (“And it happened”) at the beginning of this verse.
In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea: The fourth year of King Hezekiah and the seventh year of Hoshea refer, of course, to the reigns of these two rulers and not to their respective ages. In order to show more clearly the relationship between these two dates, Bible en français courant translates which was as “which corresponded to.”
The detail that Hoshea was the son of Elah has been omitted by Good News Translation as being redundant since this information is given at the beginning of this chapter and in 2 Kgs 15.30 and 17.1.
Shalmaneser king of Assyria: See the comments at 2 Kgs 17.3.
Came up against Samaria: In this context, as in verse 13, came up against means “to begin a military campaign against.” Some better models for translating the verbal expression here are “marched against” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “invaded” (Good News Translation), and “attacked” (New American Bible). Samaria here refers to the capital city of Israel, not the whole country.
Besieged it: It will be recalled that the verb here involves the cutting off of all supplies to a city by encircling it with troops. See the comments at 1 Kgs 8.37; 15.27 and 2 Kgs 6.24. New Century Version reverses the order of the two verbs at the end of this verse and translates “surrounded Samaria and attacked it.”
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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