Israelites

The Hebrew in Daniel 1:3 that is translated in English as “Israelites” (or: “sons of Israel”) is translated in Khoekhoe as “Israelite prisoners.” “The concept captives is hard to express in Khoekhoe. ‘Refugees’ suggests that they left at their own initiative. But in this case they were forced to do so. The nearest concept is ‘prisoners,’ although they were not literally in a prison. (Source: project-specific notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Daniel 1:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 1:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “King Nebuchadnezzar spoke to his chief leader called Ashpenaz. He told him to select young men of the Israelites whom they had taken along/with them, coming from the ruling houses/families or well-known people.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The king ordered Ashpenaz the chief official of his royal palace to choose some young Israelite men of the family of the Israelite king and of noble families.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Now, Nebuchadnezzar ordered Ashpenaz the head of his officials to-choose from the Israelite captives some young-men, that came from kingly/royal and honorable families.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then Nebuchadnezzar commanded Ashpenaz, the chief official in his palace, to bring to him some of the Israeli men whom they had brought to Babylon. He wanted men who belonged to important families, including the family of the King of Judah.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

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 Daniel 1:3

Then: this word translates the common Hebrew conjunction to mark additional information, often translated “and,” and it does not necessarily emphasize the immediate sequence of events as the Revised Standard Version rendering may seem to indicate. It has been left untranslated in Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, and Revised English Bible. Anchor Bible (Anchor Bible) renders it “later.”

The king: since two different kings have been mentioned in the previous verses, it may be better in some languages to make it clear that in this case the reference is to King Nebuchadnezzar. In other languages it may be possible to say something like “that king…,” which would clearly refer back to the last mentioned king, Nebuchadnezzar.

Eunuch: this term originally designated a castrated male person who was entrusted with the care of women’s quarters in the royal household. However, it eventually came to be used to refer to any trusted official of the king, without reference to the sexuality of the person. Here the focus is clearly on the level of responsibility of the man named Ashpenaz and not on his physical status or that of those officials for whom he was given oversight. It is therefore much better to translate “his chief officer” (New Jerusalem Bible), “his palace master” (New Revised Standard Version), “the commander of his overseers,” or “the head of his trusted officers.”

To bring: this verb is taken by Good News Translation to mean “select,” but it may also be understood in the sense of “bring into his (royal) presence.”

Some of the people of Israel: that is, some of the people who had been captured and deported to Babylonia, as described in the previous verse. Instead of “people” (the Hebrew literally says “sons of Israel”), Good News Translation anticipates the following verse and gives the information found there, translating “young men.” This may also be a good idea in other languages.

Of the royal family and of the nobility: in some languages the closest natural equivalent may be something like “from the family of the headman and from the families of the respected elders,” or “from the tribe of the chief and from the clans of the chief’s advisors.”

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .