7and sent it to Jerusalem to the priest Jehoiakim son of Hilkiah son of Shallum the priest and to the priests and to all the people who were present with him in Jerusalem.
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “high sacrificer” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Tagbanwa as “Most-important Priest of God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Bariai: “Big leader of offerings” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
In Khoekhoe the translation for “high priest” is only capitalized when it refers to Jesus (as is Hebrews 2:17 et al.). (Source: project-specific notes in Paratext)
“Son of x, son of y” must be rendered as “son of x and grandson of y” in Tibetan or else it will sound like two different people.
Note: The same translation solution is chosen in many contemporary English Bibles that emphasize easy readability, such as the Contemporary English Version, Common English Bible, Good News Translation, God’s Word, or New Living Translation.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Greek that are typically translated as “priest” in English (itself deriving from Latin “presbyter” — “elder”) is often translated with a consideration of existing religious traditions. (Click or tap for details)
Bratcher / Nida (1961) say this:
“However, rather than borrow local names for priests, some of which have unwanted connotations, a number of translations have employed descriptive phrases based on certain functions: (1) those describing a ceremonial activity: Pamona uses tadu, the priestess who recites the litanies in which she describes her journey to the upper or under-world to fetch life-spirit for sick people, animals or plants; Batak Toba uses the Arabic malim, ‘Muslim religious teacher;’ ‘one who presents man’s sacrifice to God’ (Bambara, Eastern Maninkakan), ‘one who presents sacrifices’ (Baoulé, Navajo (Dinė)), ‘one who takes the name of the sacrifice’ (Kpelle, and ‘to make a sacrifice go out’ (Hausa); (2) those describing an intermediary function: ‘one who speaks to God’ (Shipibo-Conibo) and ‘spokesman of the people before God’ (Tabasco Chontal).”
In Obolo it is translated as ogwu ngwugwa or “the one who offers sacrifice” (source: Enene Enene), in Mairasi as agam aevar nevwerai: “religious leader” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Ignaciano as “blesser, one who does ritual as a practice” (using a generic term rather than the otherwise common Spanish loan word sacerdote) (source: Willis Ott in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.), and in Noongar as yakin-kooranyi or “holy worker” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
For Guhu-Samane, Ernest Richert (in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. ) reports this: “The [local] cult of Poro used to be an all-encompassing religious system that essentially governed all areas of life. (…) For ‘priest’ the term ‘poro father’ would at first seem to be a natural choice. However, several priests of the old cult are still living. Although they no longer function primarily as priests of the old system they still have a substantial influence on the community, and there would be more than a chance that the unqualified term would (in some contexts particularly) be equated with the priest of the poro cult. We learned, then, that the poro fathers would sometimes be called ‘knife men’ in relation to their sacrificial work. The panel was pleased to apply this term to the Jewish priest, and the Christian community has adopted it fully. [Mark 1:44, for instance, now] reads: ‘You must definitely not tell any man of this. But you go show your body to the knife man and do what Moses said about a sacrifice concerning your being healed, and the cause (base of this) will be apparent.'”
For a revision of the 1968 version of the Bible in Khmer Joseph Hong (in: The Bible Translator 1996, 233ff. ) talks about a change in wording for this term:
Bau cha r (បូជាចារ្យ) — The use of this new construction meaning “priest” is maintained to translate the Greek word hiereus. The term “mean sang (មាន សង្ឃ)” used in the old version actually means a “Buddhist monk,” and is felt to be theologically misleading. The Khmer considers the Buddhist monk as a “paddy field of merits,” a reserve of merits to be shared with other people. So a Khmer reader would find unthinkable that the mean sang in the Bible killed animals, the gravest sin for a Buddhist; and what a scandal it would be to say that a mean sang was married, had children, and drank wine.
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:
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)
They sent it to Jerusalem: It refers to the money in the previous verse. So translators may say “they sent the money to Jerusalem.”
The money was sent to the priests as well as the other people in Jerusalem. Contemporary English Version has the preposition “for,” which seemingly indicates that the meaning is “for … to use.” In certain languages this will be a good translation. But it must be clear that the money was not for them to use for their own purposes (see verse 10).
Jehoiakim the high priest, the son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum: Priest may be difficult to translate in some languages, especially for translators who have not yet translated the New Testament. A Handbook on Leviticus has an excellent discussion on the Levitical priests:
The primary duty of the priest was to serve as an intermediary between the LORD and his people. The means by which this was done was sacrifice. Thus in some languages this word has been translated “sacrificer” or “intermediary.” But care should be taken to avoid negative connotations of a word like “sacrificer.” If it evokes ideas of pagan sacrifice quite different from those of the people of Israel, then another term should be sought….
A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark lists terms that a number of cultures have used; for example, “one who presents man’s sacrifice to God,” “one who takes the name of the sacrifice,” and “spokesman of the people before God.”
Jehoiakim the high priest may be alternatively translated as “Jehoiakim the chief sacrificer” or “Jehoiakim the chief [or, head] spokesman of the people before God.” The Greek text identifies Jehoiakim only as “the priest” (Revised Standard Version footnote), not as the high priest, but the author clearly intends to identify this man as the high priest. The son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum may be rendered “the son of Hilkiah and grandson of Shallum” (so Good News Translation). Contemporary English Version omits the information about Hilkiah and Shallum, but it should be retained by translators. Jehoiakim is otherwise unknown, though Hilkiah and Shallum are named in a list of priests in 1 Chr 6.13. There is a Joakim (or Joachim) mentioned as high priest in Judith (4.6), but he is also unknown. Possibly both Jehoiakim and Joakim refer to the same person as Joiakim in Neh 12.10, 26.
The priests refers to “the other priests” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version), in other words, those lower in rank than the high priest.
And to all the people who were present with him in Jerusalem may be rendered “as well as all the people living there in Jerusalem.”
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.
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