complete verse (Daniel 6:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 6:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “So your majesty, issue that law after putting your hand to it (signing it) so it can stand in the country of Media and Persia which no one will ever change.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Since it is like that, O Great King, please give the order that a law like this be written so that it may become an unchanging law of the Medes and Persians."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So Beloved King, enforce this law/command/decree. Have- this -written now and then sign [this] so-that it will- not -be-repeated/changed or revoked, in accordance with the law of our (incl.) kingdom Media and Persia.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “And because laws made by our governments of Media and Persia cannot be changed, we want you, the head of our government, to sign it.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

king

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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:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • 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.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

Japanese benefactives (-toshite)

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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 way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, -toshite (として) or “make it/someone” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Daniel 6:8

O king: see 2.4.

Establish the interdict and sign the document: once again the parallelism should not be understood as talking about two different things. The document to be signed is, in fact, the interdict, or “order,” that would be established. Compare verse 7. New Jerusalem Bible translates “So issue the ban, O king, and put it in writing.”

So that it cannot be changed: the purpose of putting the ban in writing and signing the document is to make it more binding than a mere verbal decree. The finality of the decree sought by the government officials is emphasized by reference to the laws of the Medes and Persians, which were famous for being very firmly fixed.

The unchangeable character of the law of the Medes and the Persians is also attested in the Book of Esther (1.19 and 8.8). The rendering of Anchor Bible may be helpful to translators, in that it shows clearly that this would be one among many other laws: “so that it will be as irrevocable as the other immutable laws of the Medes and the Persians.”

Which cannot be revoked: this is essentially the same as the above expression cannot be changed. Instead of the negative statement, New English Bible gives the same idea more positively: “for the law of the Medes and the Persians stands for ever.”

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 .