complete verse (Daniel 2:37)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 2:37:

  • Kupsabiny: “Your majesty, you are the king/ruler of kings/rulers. The God of heaven gave you leadership, authority and power and glorified you/raised you up!” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “O Great King, you are king even among kings. [Or: you are a king of kings] God who lives in heaven has given you kingdom, power, authority, and honor.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Beloved King, you (sing.) are the king of kings. The God of heaven made you (sing.) king and he gave you (sing.) power, strength, and honor.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You are a king who rules over many other kings. The God who rules in heaven has caused you to rule over them and has given you great power and has honored you.” (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 2:37

O king: or “Your Majesty.” See verses 4, 29, and 31.

The king of kings: this is a Semitic equivalent of the superlative in English. (Compare, for example, “Song of Songs,” meaning “The most beautiful of all songs,” or “the Holy of Holies” for “the Holiest Place of All.”) An equivalent expression may be “the supreme chief” or “the greatest of all kings” (Bible en français courant as well as Good News Translation).

The God of heaven: see verse 18.

Has given the kingdom: the kingship of Nebuchadnezzar comes from God and not from the divine nature that he claims (see chapter 3). Another way of saying this is “God … has made you king” or “… has permitted you to rule.” It will be noted that Good News Translation uses the word “emperor” here and “empire” in verses 39-43. But it then reverts to “kingdom” in verse 44. Translators should be aware that the same term is used in all these cases in Aramaic.

The power, and the might: these two terms mean practically the same thing, and it is legitimate, when all else fails, to translate them as a single word (as Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has done). If we attempt to reflect the slight difference between them, the first seems to evoke more the idea of physical strength while the second has to do more with moral strength.

Glory: this is the same word that is translated “honor” in verse 6.

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 .