army

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin that is translated as “army” in English is translated in Chichewa as “group of warriors.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (Daniel 3:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 3:20:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then he commanded the strongest soldiers of his guard to tie up these three young men and throw them into the fire.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “And he ordered some of his best troops soldiers to bind Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego and to throw them into the kiln which was blazing with fire.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He then ordered his strongest soldiers to tie/bind Shadrac, Meshac, and Abednego and throw [them] into the blazing furnace.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “After that was done, he commanded some of the very strong men of his army to tie Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and then to throw them into the blazing furnace.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Daniel 3:20

He ordered: as in the previous verse, this is literally “he said,” but the context seems to require a stronger term.

Certain mighty men of his army: the idea here is simply that of “his best troops” or “his most capable fighters,” who would have also been the strongest. Moffatt has “some powerful soldiers.”

Bind: that is, “tie up.” In some languages it may be necessary to use a fuller expression and say something like “tie the hands and feet of….”

Into the burning fiery furnace: see comments at verse 6. There may be languages in which the repetition of the adjectives at this point will be awkward and should be omitted.

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 .