23Now when all the captains of the forces and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, namely, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite.
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “son of” in English is translated in all Icelandic Bible versions of the Icelandic Bible Society (latest edition 2007) in parallel with the Icelandic naming system . This means that for instance in Matthew 16:17 the name that is transliterated and translated in English as “Simon son of Jonah” becomes “Simon Jónasson” or in Isaiah 8:2 “Zechariah son of Jeberechiah” becomes “Sakaría Jeberekíason” where in both cases the “-son” means “son of.”
In cases where “son of” does not refer to a literal father or perhaps stepfather but to lineage, however, this system is not used. So in Matthew 1:1 “Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” is translated as “Jesú Krists, sonar Davíðs, sonar Abrahams.”
The referenced verses all have at least one instance where the Icelandic patronymic or matronymic naming system is used. (Source: Halldór Elías Guðmundsson)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Kings 25:23:
Kupsabiny: “There were some leaders of soldiers (officers) who had fled with their soldiers. When those people heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to be leader of the area, they went to visit that leader there in Mizpah. Those people were: Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth from Netophah and Jaazaniah from Maacah.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Hearing the report that the King of Babylon had chosen Gedaliah as District Officer, all the captains of the army and their men came to Gedaliah in Mizpah. These included Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, Johanan, son of Kareah, Seraiah, son of Tanhumeth, the Netophathite and Jaazaniah, son of the Maacathite.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “When the officers of Juda and their men heard this, they went to Gedalia there at Mizpa. They were Ishmael the child/(son) of Netania, Johanan the child/(son) of Karea, Seraya the child/(son) of Tanhumet who is from/of-Netofa, Jaazania who is from/of-Maaca, and their men.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “When all the army captains of Judah and their soldiers who had not surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar found out that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to be the governor, they met with him at Mizpah town. These army captains were Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth from Netophah town, and Jaazaniah from the Maacah region.” (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.”
All the captains of the forces in the open country and their men: The words in the open country are supplied by Revised Standard Version, but are only implied in the Hebrew text. The supplementary information is, however, found in the parallel passage in Jer 40.7. What is important here is that these captains and their men had not yet submitted themselves to the Babylonians.
Their men is literally “the men.” The second occurrence of the words their men, which come at the end of the verse in the Masoretic Text, shows that the intended meaning of “the men” is their men, in the sense of “their soldiers.”
Mizpah was the town where the governor lived, a short distance (about 13 kilometers or 7.5 miles) north of Jerusalem. The Hebrew name Mizpah means “watchtower,” which was appropriate since this town probably overlooked the plain of Bethel. In times of difficulty it was an important place where troubled Israelites could meet (Jdg 20.1; 1 Sam 7.6). See the comments at 1 Kgs 15.22.
Revised Standard Version translates this verse as a single, very long, sentence and introduces the list of names of the officers who went to the governor using the word namely. In many languages it will be more natural to begin a new sentence at this point as Good News Translation and certain other English versions have done.
Tanhumeth, the father of Seraiah, is described as the Netophathite. This indicates the village or town of origin of Tanhumeth, so it will be better to translate “who came from the town of Netophah.” The exact location of Netophah is uncertain, but some scholars locate it in the hill country of Judah, about five kilometers (three miles) south of Bethlehem.
Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite: Good News Translation has the spelling “Jezaniah” instead of Jaazaniah because this is the form of the name used in the parallel passage in Jer 40.8. Since there are three other Old Testament characters named Jaazaniah (Jer 35.3; Ezek 8.11; 11.1), it is probably wise to use the less frequently occurring form of the name here (so Good News Translation).
The proper name of the father of Jaazaniah is not given. There are at least three interpretations of the word Maacathite.
• (1) The Hebrew expression rendered the son of the Maacathite may be taken to mean either “the son of a man who came from the region of Maacah” or “who came from the region of Maacah.” Both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version take it to mean that Jezaniah himself was from Maacah. It is, of course, quite possible that both Jezaniah and his father came from Maacah, but translators are advised to include the unnamed father in some way in translation. Maacah, mentioned also in 2 Sam 10.6 and 8, was a Syrian kingdom located northeast of Palestine on the northern border of Israel. The footnote in Traduction œcuménique de la Bible identifies a Maacathite as someone “living under the rule of the region of Maacah, northeast of Palestine.” This first interpretation seems to be the most widely held understanding.
• (2) Some interpreters, however, think that the reference is not to the Syrian kingdom of Maacah but rather to the northern Israelite town of Abel Beth Maacah (1 Kgs 15.20; 2 Kgs 15.29), which was just west of the city of Dan (so the notes in Stuttgarter Erklärungsbibel and Hobbs, who translates “Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite”). This city is also called Beth Maacah. Compare Revised English Bible: “Jaazaniah of Beth-maacah” (similarly New American Bible).
• (3) Other interpreters think it is more likely that Jezaniah was from the Calebite clan of Maacah, who was one of Caleb’s concubines (1 Chr 2.48). According to this interpretation, Maacathite is the name of a clan located in Judah (so Cogan and Tadmor). This interpretation places both Seraiah and Jezaniah as from the territory of Judah.
Some translations say simply “the Maacathite” (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Hobbs, Moffatt), as does Revised Standard Version. This leaves ambiguous whether Maacathite refers to a person or to a place. It will be acceptable, though, to choose one of the three interpretations as the basis for translation and perhaps place the alternate interpretations in a footnote, if footnotes are used in the receptor language.
Some translators may prefer to present these names in the form of a list since there are more than three. The following model for the last half of this verse may be considered:
• The officers were as follows:
Ishmael son of Nethaniah,
Johanan son of Kareah,
Seraiah son of Tanhumeth from the town of Netophah,
and Jezaniah son of a man from Maacah.
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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