elder (of the community)

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the Danish Bibelen 2020 as folkets ledere or “leaders of the people.”

Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators, explains: “The term ‘elder’ turned out to pose a particularly thorny problem. In traditional bibles, you can find elders all of over the place and they never pose a problem for a translator, they are just always elders. But how to find a contemporary term for this semi-official, complex position? This may have been our longest-standing problem. A couple of times we thought we had the solution, and then implemented it throughout the texts, only to find out that it didn’t work. Like when we used city council or village council, depending on the context. In the end we felt that the texts didn’t work with such official terms, and throughout the years in the desert, these terms didn’t make much sense. Other suggestions were ‘the eldest and wisest’, ‘the respected citizens’, ‘the Israelites with a certain position in society’, ‘the elder council’ –- and let me point out that these terms sound better in Danish than in English (‘de fremtrædende borgere,’ ‘de mest fremtrædende israelitter,’ ‘alle israelitter med en vis position,’ ‘de ældste og de klogeste,’ ‘ældsterådet’). In the end we just said ‘leaders of the people.’ After a lot of hand-wringing, it turned out that we actually found a term that worked well. So, we had to give up conveying the fact that they were old, but the most important point is that they were community leaders.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )

The German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).

Jerusalem

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:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

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)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jerusalem .

Translation commentary on 2 Maccabees 14:37

A certain Razis, one of the elders of Jerusalem: Razis is otherwise unknown. For elders see the comments on 1Macc 1.26. The writer gives the impression that Razis was an older man, but this is not necessarily indicated by the term elders. For one of the elders of Jerusalem, Good News Bible says “One of the leaders in Jerusalem,” which is sufficient, but translators may also say “an elderly resident of Jerusalem.”

Was denounced to Nicanor as a man who loved his fellow citizens: Denounced is not a good choice of words. His enemies were not accusing him of bad things; indeed, the man did good things, and that is what his enemies told the king. They called Nicanor’s attention to Razis. The Greek word for denounced means “call attention to” with bad intent. Contemporary English Version has “brought charges against.”

And was very well thought of may be rendered “and people respected him highly.”

And for his good will was called father of the Jews: Revised Standard Version is awkward in its word order here, but it means to say that Razis was called father of the Jews because of his good will, that is, his protective concern for his people. For his good will may be translated “he had helped his people in many ways” (Good News Bible) or even “he was a very generous man.” For father as a title of honor, see 2~Kgs 13.14; 1Macc 2.65.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• There was an old man in Jerusalem named Razis, who loved his fellow citizens. The Jewish people had great respect for him and called him “Father,” because he cared so much for them. But he had enemies who called him to Nicanor’s attention [or, brought charges against him to Nicanor].

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.