49Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court.
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 2:49:
Kupsabiny: “Then Daniel spoke to the king requesting him to make Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego leaders/administrators in the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained in the home of the king.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “By Daniel’s request the king chose Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego as working under the daniel governors of the province of Babylon. Daniel, however, stayed in the king’s royal palace.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Daniel requested the king to appoint Shadrac, Meshac, and Abednego his helper to rule-over the province of Babilonia. And the king agreed. Daniel on-the-other-hand remained there in the palace of the king.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “I asked the king to appoint Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to also have important positions in Babylon province, and the king did what I asked him to do. But I did my work while I stayed at the king’s palace.” (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.”
Daniel made request of the king: in other languages it will probably be necessary to make the relationship between the first two propositions much clearer. What Daniel requested was in fact what the king did. In some cases translators may wish to say “Daniel asked the king for something, and the king granted his request….” Revised English Bible, like Good News Translation, makes the first part of this verse a subordinate clause: “At Daniel’s request….”
He appointed: it should be made clear that the pronoun here refers to King Nebuchadnezzar and not Daniel.
Over the affairs of the province of Babylon: since Daniel himself was made ruler over this province, the translation should make it clear that his three friends were given high administrative positions under him. If care is not taken, it is possible to give the wrong impression that they replaced him. This is especially true in light of the fact that the last sentence of this chapter states that Daniel remained at the king’s court. While he remained at the king’s court, he was, in fact, still the ruler of the province of Babylon. The expression at the king’s court is literally “at the king’s door.” This emphasizes the readiness of the court counselor to advise the king at any moment.
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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