The Hebrew that is translated as “ancestors” in English is translated in Kwere as “deceased ancestors” because the word for “ancestor” can also mean “grandfather.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
king
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:
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- Piro: “a great one”
- Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
- Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
- Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
- Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
- Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
- 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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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.”
(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )
See also king (Japanese honorifics).
1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also pronoun for “God”.
Translation commentary on 2 Kings 22:20
Therefore: The Good News Translation transition marker (“and”) at the beginning of this verse seems weak and does not adequately express the force of the Hebrew adverb here. Translators should show the logical connection between the previous description of Josiah’s penitence and the resulting kindness of the LORD which is stated in this verse. In addition to the rendering of Revised Standard Version (also New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible), some other possible renderings are “So” (New Jerusalem Bible, Contemporary English Version), “Assuredly” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), and “because of that” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).
Behold: The focusing particle in Hebrew here highlights the fact that although the people of Jerusalem and all Judah will be punished, this will not take place immediately.
The active expression I will gather you to your fathers and the passive expression you shall be gathered to your grave in peace are slightly different ways of referring to the same event: the death of King Josiah. In those languages where the passive form is unacceptable, the idea may be translated only once. A literal rendering is rarely satisfactory. The expression “gathered to their fathers” (Jdg 2.10) or “gathered to my people” (Gen 49.29) refers to death. The peacefulness of Josiah’s death is emphasized by the addition of the words in peace. In peace may mean he will die before the great disaster happens. (Actually Josiah died in battle according to 2 Kgs 23.29-30.) Translators should look for a comparable euphemistic expression used to refer to death in their own language. If such a euphemism is not available, it will be possible to speak more directly of death. Bible en français courant translates “I will allow you to die in peace.” Compare the more common expression “slept with his fathers” (for example, 1 Kgs 2.10; 2 Kgs 8.24).
Your grave follows the singular noun of the ancient versions. The Masoretic Text has “your graves,” which may be a reference to the royal tombs. Many interpreters suggest a slight change in the spelling of the plural Hebrew noun to make it singular, grave, which the context seems to require (see also 2 Kgs 23.30, which says that Josiah was buried in his own tomb).
Your eyes shall not see all the evil: The word evil refers to the disaster that will come on Jerusalem and the rest of Judah (see verse 16). In certain languages it will be unnatural to make the eyes the subject of a clause such as this. It will be better to say something like “you will not have to look on all the misfortune.” Two possible models in modern English versions are “You won’t see all the trouble” (New Century Version) and “you will not live to see the great disaster” (New Jerusalem Bible).
Which I will bring on this place: In the parallel passage in 2 Chr 34.28, the additional words “and its inhabitants” follow the words upon this place. It is possible that the words “and its inhabitants” were original here also and that they were accidentally omitted since the Hebrew words for “its inhabitants” (yoshebayw) and they brought back (yashibu) are similar in spelling. A couple of Septuagint manuscripts have this longer reading here in verse 20. La Bible Pléiade, Maredsous, and Gray include the words “and [on] its inhabitants” (La Bible Pléiade within square brackets), but translators are encouraged to follow the Masoretic Text, as do nearly all other modern translations.
They brought back word to the king: The pronoun they refers to the five men (verse 14) who had gone to consult Yahweh for the king through the prophetess Huldah as an intermediary. If this is unclear, it will be possible to translate “the men whom Josiah had sent” or “the messengers.”
Brought back word renders the same Hebrew expression translated “reported” in verse 9. Some may wish to translate it using the same verb here as follows: “they reported all this to the king.”
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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