Pharaoh

The term that is used for monarchs in ancient Egypt and is transliterated as “Pharaoh” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying the “fake metal beard (postiche)” that was word by Pharaohs during official functions. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Pharaoh” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Pharaoh .

king

Click here to view graphically

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:

(Click or tap here to see details)

  • 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 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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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).

Translation commentary on 2 Kings 23:29

In his days; that is, during the period of Josiah’s reign as king over Judah, not during the days of King Neco. In certain languages it will be wise to say more precisely “at the time when Josiah was ruler of Judah.”

Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria …: For the meaning of the title Pharaoh, see the comments on 1 Kgs 3.1. The proper name of the Egyptian ruler here is Neco. Since the meaning of Pharaoh is given again in the text (king of Egypt), it is unnecessary to translate the same idea twice (so Good News Translation).

King Neco, who ruled in Egypt from 609 to 595 B.C., was at that time allied with the Assyrians. He was marching to the north in order to help Assyria by stopping the Babylonian army. Since Judah and Assyria were enemies, Josiah started out to turn back the Egyptian forces led by King Neco.

The Hebrew phrase rendered went up to is used in 1 Kgs 20.22 to mean “to go against” or “to attack.” Various translations apply that meaning here in verse 29 by saying Neco “went up against the king of Assyria” (King James Version, Reina-Valera revisada; similarly La Bible du Semeur). Moffatt similarly says that Neco “marched to fight the king of Assyria,” and Nouvelle version Segond révisée uses the ambiguous wording “went up toward the king of Assyria.”

However, ancient Akkadian sources indicate that Neco was going “to help” (so Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) the Assyrian king Ashur-Uballit II and his army; and the writings of the first-century Jewish historian Josephus agree with this. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch states in a footnote that the Hebrew text reads “against the king of Assyria,” but the text of Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch follows a suggested correction to read “to help the king of Assyria.” It is interesting that Gray translates “made an expedition against the king of Assyria,” but then states in his commentary that the author of 2 Kings “has simply misunderstood the general political situation” (page 748). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says that Neco “marched against the king of Assyria,” but then indicates in a footnote that “Assyria” here refers to the Chaldean Empire (the Babylonians).

It is possible that the Hebrew phrase for went up to means “went on behalf of” here rather than “went against,” which is the usual meaning. Grammatical considerations favor the translation “went against” but historical sources favor the rendering “went on behalf of.” Translators must simply choose between the two possible translations. One other solution is to use a general expression such as “went up to see the king of Assyria” (so Peregrino) and to leave ambiguous the reason why he went.

The river Euphrates: See the comments at 1 Kgs 4.21, where this river is referred to simply as “the river.” The name for Euphrates in Hebrew is perath. The name Euphrates is a transliteration of the Greek form of the name.

The verbal expressions went up to and went to meet him both refer to military movements, although they sound rather harmless in translation. Contemporary English Version translates “led his army … to help” and “led his troops north to fight Neco.”

Pharaoh Neco slew him is literally “he slew him.” Aside from the archaic nature of the verb slew (New Revised Standard Version “killed”), there may be some question in the minds of translators as to whether this is intended to signify that Neco himself took the life of Josiah. As suggested by the Good News Translation rendering (also Contemporary English Version), this may mean that as the opposing forces met in battle, Josiah was killed by the enemy troops that were led by King Neco. Most versions, however, retain the singular form of the Hebrew verb here that specifies Neco as the one who actually administered the death blow to Josiah. This Hebrew verb is not the same one that is translated “slew” in verse 20. The verb here is a causative form of the verb “to die.”

Megiddo: See the comments on this fortified city in the valley of Jezreel at 1 Kgs 4.12 and 2 Kgs 9.27.

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 .