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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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).

Translation commentary on Esther 1:16   

In presence of in Hebrew is literally “to the face of.” The meaning is that Memucan spoke “in front of” the king and his officials, or “to the king and his officials” (Good News Translation). Many languages have idioms similar to the Hebrew; for example, “in [to] the eyes of.” However, the translator must take care to avoid using an expression that suggests arrogance or defiance on the part of the speaker.

On the princes see comment on 1.3.

Memucan’s answer to the king is reported also in direct quotation form and takes the emphatic form, Not only … but also…, which is restructured in Good News Translation to maintain and clarify emphasis according to English style (similarly Bible en français courant). To avoid making a sentence that is long and overly complicated, the translator may prefer to divide it into two separate sentences as the New Century Version (New Century Version) has done: “He said, ‘Queen Vashti has not done wrong to the king alone. She has also done wrong to all the important men and all the people in the empire of King Xerxes.’ ” Each language will have its own preferred grammatical structures and emphatic expressions; for example, “Queen Vashti has done wrong toward the king. On the head of that, she has done wrong to all the big people and all the people in all the lands under King Ahasuerus!” In some languages the exclamation point will be represented by an emphatic particle. In translating this verse and the following verses, the translator must remember that Memucan is speaking in the presence of the king and the princes. Courtly protocol must be respected in the form of language used to translate Memucan’s words.

The word peoples is plural because the speaker is referring to all the different ethnic groups in the large Persian Empire. In the light of the following verses, which refer explicitly to husbands, the implicit meaning here is that the Queen has wronged “every man” (so Good News Translation and Bible en français courant). However, since Memucan is emphasizing the seriousness of the queen’s offense by referring to the entire kingdom, it will be better in the receptor language to use a general word for peoples in this verse, as in Revised Standard Version.

In all the provinces of King Ahasuerus refers to the 127 provinces mentioned in 1.1. Good News Translation shortens and combines information by omitting part of the author’s repetition of detail.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on Esther (The Hebrew Text). (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 1:16

1:16a

princes: See note on 1:3b.

1:16b

wronged not only the king: Memucan did not refer to the king as “you” although he was speaking directly to him. You need to decide whether you can do this or whether you need to say “you.” If you have a special way of addressing a chief, you need to consider if you should use it here. For example, the Contemporary English Version has:

Your Majesty, Queen Vashti has not only embarrassed you

princes: See note on 1:3b.

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