2Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent for the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to assemble and come to the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
The term that is transliterated as “Nebuchadnezzar” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the signs for “king” and one signifying a wavy beard, referring to the common way of wearing a beard in Mesopotamia (see here ). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Nebuchadnezzar” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting “idol in my image,” referring to Daniel 3:1. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 3:2:
Kupsabiny: “Then, king Nebuchadnezzar summoned all his people including the provincial governors, major and minor rulers, the treasurers, the council elders in charge of large communities and smaller ones together with big/important people in the provinces. All those people came to the feast of dedication of that thing.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “After that King Nebuchadnezzar summoned the provincial district officers, administrators, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges and all the provincial officials to come on the occasion of the dedication of the image that he had set up.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Afterwards King Nebuchadnezzar caused-to-be-called/summoned the governors, mayors, commissioners, advisers, treasurers, judges, leader/[lit. heads], and other officials of the provinces in-order to join the dedication of the statue. When they were already there standing in front of the statue,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then he sent messages to all the provincial governors, the district governors, the chief advisors, the counselors, the various judges, and all the other officials in the province. He told them to come to the dedication of the statue that he had set up.” (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.”
Sent to assemble: New English Bible supplies the missing piece of information: “sent out a summons to assemble.” Another possibility is “sent messengers out to order … to come together.” In some languages it will be simpler and more natural to say “called together,” or there may be a special word for “summoned.”
As has already been noted, the writer of this book is especially fond of lists. The list of officials found here is repeated word for word in verse 3, but at the end of the chapter (verse 27), it is limited to the first three officials, with the addition of a fourth group called “the king’s counselors.” In this verse the fact that the conjunction and is used only before the third term seems to set apart the first two kinds of officials as being of higher rank than the others. The translation should therefore probably be worded in such a way as to separate out the two main groups or categories. This can be done by naming the first two kinds of officials and then saying something like “there were also…” or “he also called…,” and then listing the others.
The satraps, the prefects, and the governors: while the exact meaning of the terms is debatable, it seems that these three are given in descending order of importance. The satraps were in charge of the main divisions of the empire; the prefects were high officials responsible directly to the satraps; and the governors were heads of the subdivisions within the main divisions. Translators should think of the very highest officials under the president himself and use the terms for these officials in the order of their influence or political importance.
Counselors … treasurers … justices … magistrates: the meaning of these four terms for the lesser officials is less certain. If it is impossible to find four different terms, the number can be reduced. However, if it can be avoided, it is probably not advisable to adopt the solution of Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, where the entire list is summed up in one term; this would remove an element that is characteristic of the Book of Daniel. In the second group of officials, translators may consider the local equivalents for “elders,” “keepers of the treasury (or money),” “judges,” “subchiefs,” and “police officers.”
And all the officials: this phrase is not to be seen as an eighth category, but rather it serves as a summary of what goes before. Instead of the conjunction and, some have proposed something like “in short, all the officials…,” or “that is to say…,” or “that means….”
Dedication: this word comes from a root that means “begin” or “initiate.” The actual word is the same as used in the English name for the present day Jewish Festival of Dedication, or “Hanukkah,” which celebrates the reestablishment of Temple worship after the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. In addition to the occurrences here and in the following verse, it also appears in the Aramaic portion of Ezra (6.16, 17), and the corresponding Hebrew term is found eight times (in Num 7.84; Neh 12.27; 2 Chr 7.9, for example). It is mentioned in the New Testament in John 10.22. In some languages it may be best translated “the celebration to begin the worship (of the image).”
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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