30His servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.
The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated into English as “chariot” is translated into Anuak as “canoe pulled by horse.” “Canoe” is the general term for “vehicle” (source: Loren Bliese). Similarly it is translated in Lokạạ as ukwaa wạ nyanyang ntuuli or “canoe that is driven by horses.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Other translations include:
Chichicapan Zapotec: “ox cart” (in Acts 8) (ox carts are common vehicles for travel) (source: Loren Bliese)
Chichimeca-Jonaz, it is translated as “little house with two feet pulled by two horses” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
HausaCommon Language Bible as keken-doki or “cart of donkey” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The different Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
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 23:30:
Kupsabiny: “His servants took the body of Josiah and brought it in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem. Those people went and buried Josiah in his own field there. After that, people took the son of Josiah who was called Jehoahaz and anointed him to become king who replaced his father.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Josiah’s servants put his corpse in a chariot and brought him from Megiddo to Jerusalem. He was buried in his own tomb. Then the people of the land anointed Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz, and made him king in his father’s place.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “His servants loaded his dead-body/corpse in a chariot and brought (him) back to Jerusalem and buried (him) in his own burial-place. His child/(son) Jehoahaz was the one who the people of Juda replaced as king by rubbing him with oil.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “His officials placed his corpse in a chariot and took it back to Jerusalem, where it was buried in his own tomb, a tomb where the other previous kings had not been buried. Then the people of Judah poured olive oil on the head of Josiah’s son Joahaz, to appoint him to be the new king.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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.”
His servants: In all likelihood, this expression refers to the officials who had been serving under King Josiah (so Good News Translation) and probably not to lowly servants.
Carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo …: Instead of saying carried him dead, it may be more natural in certain languages to say “carried his body” or “… his corpse” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). Similarly, the pronoun him in the expressions brought him to Jerusalem and buried him may be translated “it,” referring to the corpse. Some commentators, however, think that Josiah was not yet dead at this point, but only severely wounded. Gray, for example, translates “drove him dying from Megiddo….” But since the previous verse already says that he was killed, this seems unlikely.
In his own tomb: As noted at 2 Kgs 21.18, the kings of Judah that came after Hezekiah were no longer entombed where the previous kings had been buried. This was probably because there was no longer any space there. In the case of Manasseh and Amon, it could be argued that they were refused burial with their ancestors because they were bad kings, but this argument will certainly not apply to Josiah, who is said to be the best of all the kings of Judah (verse 25).
The people of the land: This expression has been discussed in detail in chapter 11 (verses 14, 18-20). It also occurs in 2 Kgs 15.5; 16.15 and 21.24.
Jehoahaz: Bible readers are often confused by the fact that two different kings had this name. The king of Israel who ruled 814–798 B.C. was called “Jehoahaz.” The king of Judah, in this passage, is referred to by the same name. Good News Translation consistently uses the shortened form of the name, “Joahaz,” for the king of Judah and the longer form for the earlier king of Israel. A similar situation exists with the names Jehoram/Joram and Joash/Jehoash (see Appendix B, “Who’s Who among the Kings?”).
To complicate matters further, the king of Judah, called “Joahaz” in Good News Translation, is elsewhere called “Shallum” (1 Chr 3.15). Joahaz was the youngest of Josiah’s four sons. Normally, the oldest son would become the new king following the death of his father.
Anointed him: Regarding the verb anointed, see the comments on 1 Kgs 1.34. According to some scholars, anointing would not have been required if Johanan, the oldest of the sons of Josiah (1 Chr 3.15), had succeeded his father. Because the succession was abnormal, it was necessary to pour oil on the head of Joahaz to show that he was indeed the new ruler.
As Osty-Trinquet points out in a note on his translation, even though the Hebrew literally says “they anointed him,” it is most likely that one single person actually did the anointing. For this reason it will be acceptable to say something like the following for the last half of this verse: “the people of the land took Josiah’s son Joahaz and one of them anointed him as they made him 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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