elder (of the community)

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the Danish Bibelen 2020 as folkets ledere or “leaders of the people.”

Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators, explains: “The term ‘elder’ turned out to pose a particularly thorny problem. In traditional bibles, you can find elders all of over the place and they never pose a problem for a translator, they are just always elders. But how to find a contemporary term for this semi-official, complex position? This may have been our longest-standing problem. A couple of times we thought we had the solution, and then implemented it throughout the texts, only to find out that it didn’t work. Like when we used city council or village council, depending on the context. In the end we felt that the texts didn’t work with such official terms, and throughout the years in the desert, these terms didn’t make much sense. Other suggestions were ‘the eldest and wisest’, ‘the respected citizens’, ‘the Israelites with a certain position in society’, ‘the elder council’ –- and let me point out that these terms sound better in Danish than in English (‘de fremtrædende borgere,’ ‘de mest fremtrædende israelitter,’ ‘alle israelitter med en vis position,’ ‘de ældste og de klogeste,’ ‘ældsterådet’). In the end we just said ‘leaders of the people.’ After a lot of hand-wringing, it turned out that we actually found a term that worked well. So, we had to give up conveying the fact that they were old, but the most important point is that they were community leaders.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )

The German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 14:1

Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me: Some translations find it more natural to omit the connector Then (so Good News Translation), but others begin with “After that,” “One day” (Contemporary English Version), or “At another time.” The elders of Israel were the leaders of the Jewish exiles in Babylonia (see the comments on 8.1, where they are called “the elders of Judah”). It is not stated how many there were, where Ezekiel was at the time, or why they came to see him. As in 8.1, they may have come to Ezekiel’s house, but unless it is necessary for the discourse, it is best not to specify any place. The elders came to where Ezekiel was. There are some languages where the verb came would be understood to mean they came to where the readers are. If so, translators may say “went.” Good News Translation is most likely correct when it assumes that they “came to consult me [Ezekiel] about the LORD’s will” (similarly Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Translators may include something to this effect if their language demands it. Revised English Bible has “visited me,” and Parole de Vie says “came to see me.”

And sat before me: After the Israelite leaders came to Ezekiel, they sat down in front of him (see 8.1). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch adds that “they waited.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .