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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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 8:6

The text does not say what the king asked the woman, but there can be no doubt that the question had to do with the restoration of her son by Elisha. In some languages it may be necessary to translate “the king asked the woman about what happened to her son” or “… questioned her concerning the miracle.”

She told him; that is, she told him that it was indeed true that Elisha had restored her son to life. In some cases it will be necessary to say “she told him that it was true” or “she told him everything” (Peregrino, em>Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). Or it may be possible to say “she told him all about the miracle.” For the whole first sentence, compare also “The king questioned the woman, who told him the story” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).

The king appointed an official for her: The Hebrew word translated official is sometimes rendered “eunuch” (2 Kgs 9.32; 20.18). But the term is often used of a trusted official in the court of the king without any reference to his sexuality. Compare 1 Kgs 22.9, where it is rendered “officer.” In this case a person was assigned to take care of the woman and see to it that her complaint was dealt with in such a way that she was satisfied.

All the produce of the fields may be taken as referring to the actual crops that the land had yielded over the past seven years, but it is very unlikely that the crops themselves would have been kept over such a long period of time. The meaning is rather “the value of all the crops that her fields had produced” (Good News Translation) or “all the income from her land” (New International Version). Other translations speak similarly of “all the revenues from her land” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, La Bible Pléiade, Nouvelle Bible Segond), while New Century Version says “all the money made from her land.”

From the day that she left the land until now: The Hebrew word rendered land may refer simply to the woman’s fields, or it may refer to the land of Israel. Some of the translations that follow the second interpretation make this explicit by saying “from the time she left the country until now” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “from the day she left the country until now” (New International Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Nouvelle Bible Segond), or “since the day she left Israel” (Contemporary English Version).

Once again, the direct discourse here is made indirect in Good News Translation. This model should be considered in other languages as well.

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 .