Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 5:8:
Kupsabiny: “All the wise men of the king came, but not even one of them was able to read those writings and/or tell the king what they meant.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Then all the king’s wise men came, but they were not able to read the letters that had been written or tell the king what they meant.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The wise men came-near to read that was-written on the wall. But they could- not -read nor explain to the king its meaning.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “But when all those wise men came in, none of them could read the writing, or tell him what it meant.” (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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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.”
All the king’s wise men: the more general word for the royal advisors is used here as in 2.12 and other places. Note that Good News Translation omits the detail all, but this should be retained in the translation.
Came in: since the king was already speaking to the royal advisors—or at least some of them—in the previous verse, this presents logical difficulties. One commentary notes that the participial force of the verb here gives the idea “were coming in” and indicates that the arrival of the advisors happened over a period of several hours. Good News Translation takes it to mean that these men “came forward” or drew closer to the king. New Jerusalem Bible carries a similar meaning. But New American Bible has “though all the king’s wise men came in,” meaning that even after the arrival of the last of the advisors there was no solution to the problem. This is probably the best interpretation. Some may wish to translate “When all the royal advisors had arrived” or “After all of the king’s advisors had finished coming in.”
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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