Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Esther 10:1:
Kupsabiny: “King Ahasuerus declared that all the provinces of that country should pay tax including even those lining/touching the shore of the sea/ocean without missing any person.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “King Ahasuerus imposed a tax on all people from within his kingdom to the ocean shore.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “King Ahasuerus had- all the people of his kingdom -paid the taxes, even those who live in the islands.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Eastern Bru: “King Xerxes imposed a tax on all the countries he ruled in the region and in the land beside the red sea also.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
English: “King Xerxes required that all the people in his empire pay taxes. Even the people who lived on the islands in the Mediterranean Sea (OR, in coastal areas) were required to pay taxes.” (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.”
The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Mordecai received honor in all the kingdom of Xerxes
The book began with a reference to the greatness of King Xerxes. It ends with how the king honored Mordecai, one of the heroes of the story.
Paragraph 10:1–3
10:1
tribute: The Hebrew is more “forced labor.” However the word also came to mean tribute, a sort of tax which the king made the people throughout his kingdom pay. Because of the expenses of the long war against Greece, the king needed money. These taxes would have been paid mainly by food which the people grew or by animals which they reared.
throughout the land, even to its farthest shores: Literally “upon the land and the regions of the sea.” Scholars differ in how they understand this, especially the expression “the regions of the sea.” The two main possibilities are:
(1) “Regions of the sea” means the coast, as distinguished from the interior (Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004)).
(2) “Regions of the sea” means the islands, as distinguished from the mainland (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, Jerusalem Bible).
The expression “regions of the sea” can mean either. The important thing is that the expression “upon the land and the regions of the sea” means that the whole empire was included, and you should make sure that your translation makes this clear.
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