25Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who can tell the king the interpretation.”
The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)
The term that is transliterated as “Daniel” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the sign for the letter D and for “lion,” referring to the story in Daniel 6. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Daniel” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with the sign for “prayer” that illustrates Daniel’s close relationship with God.
Following is a hand colored stencil print on washi of Daniel by Sadao Watanabe (1965):
Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe. For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.
The following is a stained glass window depicting Daniel by Endre Odon Hevezi and Gyula Bajo from 1965 for the Debre Libanos Monastery, Oromia, Ethiopia:
Photo by Timothy A. Gonsalves, hosted by Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 2:25:
Kupsabiny: “At that, Arioch took Daniel right away to the home/palace of the king, and said to him, ‘King, I have found a person from among those foreigners who come from the country of Judah who is able to reveal what your dreams mean.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Arioch quickly took Daniel along to the king and said, "Among the foreigners Who were taken away from Judah I have found a man. He will be able to tell [you] the meaning of your dream."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “So Arioc immediately brought Daniel to the king. Arioc said, ‘Beloved King, I have-seen a captive from Juda who can-tell what is the meaning of your (sing.) dream.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “So Arioch quickly took me to the king. He said to the king, ‘I have found this man, one of the men whom we brought from Judah who says he can can tell you what your dream means!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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:
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.”
Then Arioch brought in Daniel … in haste: the words used here carry the idea of an action performed eagerly and in a hurry. Some versions use words like “immediately,” “quickly” (New American Bible), or “at once” (Good News Translation and New International Version). Anchor Bible begins this verse “Rushing excitedly….” New Jerusalem Bible translates “lost no time….” New English Bible, on the other hand, takes it to mean “in great trepidation,” but this interpretation is not recommended.
Among the exiles from Judah: literally “among the sons of the removed of Judah.” Some other ways of saying this may be “among those brought here from Judah” or “among the Jewish exiles” (Revised English Bible). Translators should also be careful of the structure of this verse. It is possible that this secondary information about Daniel will have to be made a separate sentence and placed after the main message to the king. It may be possible to say, for example, “I have found someone who can interpret your dream. He is one of those Jewish exiles.”
To the king: within the direct quotation it will be more natural in most cases to use the pronoun in place of the noun, “to you.”
The interpretation: we know, of course, that the interpretation is of the troublesome dream that is at the center of the whole story. But in some languages it may be desirable to state this clearly.
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 .
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