Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, the Jarai translation and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation use the inclusive form (including the presidents and the satraps).
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.
The term that is transliterated as “Daniel” in English means “judge of God (i.e., one who delivers judgment in the name of God,” “my judge is God.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In American Sign Language it is translated 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
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 6:5:
Kupsabiny: “Those people said among themselves, ‘There is no basis for any charge against Daniel, unless it is concerning the worship of the God of Daniel.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Eventually they said to one another, "We will only be able to accuse Daniel in [relation to] the law of his God, we will not be able to accuse him in [relation to] any other matter."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “So they said, ‘We (excl.) have nothing at-all to accuse against him, unless if we (excl.) find a fault that [has] to do with the Law of his God.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “They concluded, ‘The only way we can find something for which we can criticize Daniel will be something concerning the laws that his god his given him.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
These men said: note that Good News Translation makes clear the fact that Daniel’s accusers were talking to each other. The verb in Aramaic may have a reciprocal meaning, and this is obviously the case here, since there is no one else to whom they might have addressed these ideas. The inclusive “we” would therefore be used in those languages that distinguish between inclusive and exclusive forms.
Ground for complaint: see verse 4.
This Daniel: see verse 3.
Unless we find it …: this clause may be better translated as a separate sentence in some languages. One possibility to consider is “The only thing that will make him do wrong (before the king) will be his obedience to matters of his God.”
The law of his God: this is taken to mean “his religion” in New English Bible/Revised English Bible as well as Good News Translation, and rightly so, since the usual word for law is not used here. But in many languages of the world the word “religion” is difficult to translate, and it may be better to use an expression like “the affairs of his God” or something similar.
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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