human head hair

The Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew that is translated as “hair” in English is translated in Tzeltal as stsotsil sjol (Tzeltal de Oxchuc y Tenejapa) / stsotsel sjol (Tzeltal Bachajón): “blanket for the head.” (Source: Slocum / Watkins 1988, p. 35)

See also hair (body hair) and hairy (like Esau).

king

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 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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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 Samuel 14:26

The structure of this verse may need to be modified in some languages to make it read more naturally. The parenthetical phrase of Revised Standard Version may be shifted forward and made into a separate sentence. The repetition in the verse may also be reduced. Compare Good News Translation.

He cut the hair of his head: literally “he shaved his head” (so New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Fox). Many translations have “cut” his hair (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), apparently on the assumption that Absalom would have trimmed his hair and not have shaved off all of his hair. Since the Hebrew verb is used in some contexts for trimming the hair, either “shaved” or “cut” is acceptable here. An expression like the Revised Standard Version rendering will be redundant in some languages—especially those which have different words for the hair that grows on the top of the head and that which is found elsewhere on the body.

Two hundred shekels: the weight of a shekel was about 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). The modern equivalent of two hundred of these will therefore be “more than two kilos” (Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or “about five pounds,” as indicated in the American edition of Good News Translation and the New International Version footnote. The term shekels does not refer to coins, since coins with this name were not made until about the seventh century B.C. It will therefore be inappropriate to speak of “coins called shekel” at this point. It will be far better to convert the weight into a meaningful equivalent in the receptor language. The ancient Greek version of this verse says “a hundred shekels” (Anchor Bible), which may be less of an exaggeration, but the evidence is not strong enough for translators to follow it in this case. Both the traditional Hebrew text and the manuscripts from the Dead Sea have the figure “two hundred.”

By the king’s weight: wherever there are weights and measures used by a large group of people, there must be a standard. Gen 23.16 speaks of “four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.” Similarly the expression “shekel of the sanctuary” is common in the Pentateuch (see Exo 30.12; Lev 5.15; 27.3, 25; and Num 7). The expression used here is not found elsewhere in the Old Testament but indicates that the standard for weights and measures at this point in the history of Israel must have been set by the king. The very presence of this phrase seems to indicate that the readers may have been familiar with other standards. Some possible translations include “by the royal standard” (New International Version), “by the official weight of the king” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente), and “using the measures approved by the king.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .