messenger

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “messenger” in English is translated in Noongar as moort yana-waangki or “person walk-talk” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

complete verse (2 Kings 7:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Kings 7:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “As they went on their journey, they found clothes and other utensils/things which the people of Syria had thrown away when they fled. Then they traced the people of Syria to the river of Jordan. After that, those people returned and came to tell the king the words/matter.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Those men went searching as far as the Jordan. They saw clothing and equipment all along the road, that had been thrown away when the Arameans hurriedly ran away. They went back and reported it all to the King.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They reached as-far-as the River Jordan, and they saw in the roads the clothes and equipment that the Arameanhon had-thrown-away in their hastening to flee. The ones-who-were-sent returned and reported this to the king.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They went as far as the Jordan River. All along the road they saw clothes and equipment that the soldiers from Syria had thrown away while they were running away very quickly. So the men returned to the king and reported what they had seen.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Jordan

The Hebrew, Greek and Ge’ez that is translated as “Jordan” means “descending (rapidly),” “flowing down.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the river bordering Jordan and Israel, along with the general sign for river. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Jordan river” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jordan River .

king

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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).

Translation commentary on 2 Kings 7:15

They went after them as far as the Jordan: The pronoun they refers to the two chariot teams that had been sent out to investigate the situation, and the pronoun them refers to the enemy army. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (similarly Bible en français courant) says “The scouts followed their trail as far as the Jordan.” They followed the fleeing Syrians as far as the Jordan River, which would have been about 35 kilometers (22 miles). Translators are reminded that in some languages it will be necessary to add the term “river” to Jordan.

Lo renders the same Hebrew word as “behold” in verses 6 and 10 in the account of the original discovery of the Syrians’ departure. Here it shifts the narrative to the viewpoint of the men who discover the garments and equipment and highlights the evidence that proved that the report was indeed true.

All the way was littered …: This expression is intended to show the disorganized way in which the Syrians fled in panic. The Hebrew, which does not have a verb here, is literally “all the way full of….” The Revised Standard Version translation here is passive in form. An active expression for the same idea is “all along the way they found…” or “they saw … in disarray beside the road.”

The Hebrew noun rendered garments is a general term that covers a wide range of clothing, from bedclothes (1 Kgs 1.1) to outer garments and kings’ robes (1 Kgs 22.10).

The word equipment may be difficult to translate in many languages. The Hebrew term used here is a very general one that may refer to utensils used in the preparation of food (Lev 6.28), work implements and tools (1 Kgs 6.7), or military armor and weaponry (2 Kgs 20.13). Quite possibly it included all of these in the hasty retreat of the Syrians. Other translations include “other objects” (New American Bible) and “gear” (New Jerusalem Bible). Some languages may have a general word for “belongings” while others will have to use an expression like “their things.”

The messengers returned, and told the king: The messengers are the men who had been sent to find out what the situation was. In some languages the word messengers will not be appropriate since these men had no message to deliver. They were more like a “patrol” (La Bible du Semeur) or “scouts” (New Jerusalem Bible) who returned with their own report rather than with a message from another person.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 2 Kings 7:15

7:15a And they tracked them as far as the Jordan,

The men followed them until they reached the ⌊River⌋ Jordan.

-or-

So the king’s men followed the Aramean/Syrian soldiers all the way to the Jordan ⌊River⌋ .

7:15b and indeed, the whole way was littered with the clothing and equipment

All along the road, they saw a lot of clothes and equipment

-or-

⌊As they went⌋ , these men discovered that the road was full of clothes and other things.

7:15c the Arameans had thrown off in haste.

that the Aramean/Syrian army had left as they were rushing/hurrying to escape.

-or-

The Aramean/Syrian soldiers dropped them as they were running away.

7:15d So the scouts returned and told the king.

Then the messengers came back and told the king.

-or-

⌊When they saw that,⌋ the king’s men went back and told him what they had seen.

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