19And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. He killed those he wanted to kill, kept alive those he wanted to keep alive, honored those he wanted to honor, and degraded those he wanted to degrade.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).
Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).
In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One important aspect of addressing someone else in one’s or someone else’s family is by selecting the correct word when referring to them. One way to do this is through the usage of an appropriate title within a conversation as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
In some conversations, archaic honorific forms for “father” are chosen that also contain chichi (父) and typically indicate a greater level of respect. That includes chichi-ue (父上). An interesting contrast between the use of of chichi and chichi-ue can be found when there is a reference to “my father and your father.” The former is addressed with chichi and the latter with chichi-ue (for more see 1 Kings 15:19, 1 Kings 20:34, and 2 Chronicles 16:3 along with addressing one’s father humbly / respectfully in Japanese (父)). (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 5:19:
Kupsabiny: “He was so great that all communities and nations respected and feared him even to the level of trembling. Whenever he wished to kill someone, he would do it. When he wished to spare, he spared. He would promote or demote whoever he wished.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “And since God had made him great, the peoples and nations and speakers of various languages, seeing him, trembled and were afraid. Whoever he wanted to kill, he killed, whoever he wanted to keep alive, he kept alive. To honor any person or to belittle/insult him, was in his hand.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Because of the power given by God to him, people from different nations, race, and language feared him. He could-kill anyone he wanted to kill. And he could also not kill anyone he wanted not to-be-killed. He could promote a person to a high position if he wanted to promote; he could bring-down the position a person if he wanted to bring- (him) -down.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Because God caused him to become very great, people of many people-groups and nations and who spoke many different languages were very much afraid of him. He commanded his soldiers to kill those whom he wanted to be killed, and he spared/allowed to live those whom he wanted to spare. He honored those whom he wanted to honor, and he caused to be disgraced those whom he wanted to be disgraced.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
In these verses, the verb that is translated as “give” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-atae (お与え), combining “to give” (atae) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
He gave him: in some cases it may be important to translate the pronoun he by the noun “God” to avoid possible confusion in the mind of the reader.
Peoples, nations, and languages: see 3.4, 7; 4.1.
Trembled and feared: these two terms are very similar in meaning and may have to be translated by a single verb in some languages.
Whom he would he slew: the New Revised Standard Version gives the same information in more common English word order and vocabulary: “He killed those he wanted to kill.”
Whom he would he kept alive: both the Revised Standard Version and the Good News Translation rendering “if he wanted to keep someone alive, he did” sounds as if the king may have been a great physician with exceptional healing powers, but this is not the meaning of the text. So this meaning should be avoided. It will be much better to say “allow to live” instead of “keep alive.” Another possibility is “spared whom he pleased” (New Jerusalem Bible).
Raised up … put down: the translation of these terms should not give the impression of physical lifting up and its opposite. Very often in Scripture these words are used in a figurative sense to speak of promotion and demotion, or of distinction and dishonor. This meaning is conveyed here by Good News Translation, “honored or disgraced.” New English Bible has “promoted … and … degraded,” and New American Bible reads “exalted or humbled.”
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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