19Mortal, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them shall issue from the same land. And make a signpost; make it for a fork in the road leading to a city;
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 21:19:
Kupsabiny: “‘Ezekiel, mark/show two roads so that the king of Babylon can come with his sword. Put a sign where the road branches so it can show where he is headed.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘Man, you make a map and mark it with two roads which the king of Babilonia will-pass-by[-on-it] bringing a sword. These two roads will-start in Babilonia. Put a signpost on where- the two roads -have-crossed so-that [it] will-be-known where these two roads are-heading.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘You human, makea map, and on it mark two roads for the King of Babylonia to march onalong with his army, carrying their swords. When they depart from their country, they will come to a sign post where the road divides.” (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.”
Mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come …: In this prophecy it becomes clear that the threatening sword in the previous prophecy is the king of Babylon, that is, Nebuchadnezzar. This means that Nebuchadnezzar will come as God’s agent to punish the nation of Judah. Mark two ways and make a signpost does not mean Ezekiel was standing where two roads met so that he could set up a signpost to show where each road went. Rather, he was to draw a map, perhaps on the ground, to show these two roads. Mark two ways may be rendered “Make a map and trace two routes on it” (New Living Translation) or “Draw two roads.” These roads were to show two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come, that is, “two roads by which the king of Babylonia can come with his sword” (Good News Translation). As elsewhere, Good News Translation and some other translations use “Babylonia” for the country and reserve Babylon for its capital city (see the comments on 12.13). In many languages the verb come would mean in the direction of the readers. In those cases this verb is better rendered “follow” (Contemporary English Version, New Century Version) or “take” (Moffatt).
Both of them shall come forth from the same land: This clause does not mean that Ezekiel drew two roads coming out of Babylonia. He drew only one road which then forked into two at the place where he put the signpost. New Century Version provides a good model here, saying “Both of these roads will start from the same country.”
And make a signpost: Since Ezekiel drew the two roads, this clause may be rendered “and draw a signpost” or “and show a signpost.”
Make it at the head of a way to a city: Ezekiel put the sign where the two roads separated and went to separate cities. This clause and the previous one may be rendered “At the place where the two roads separate, make a sign to indicate the city where each road leads” (similarly Bible en français courant).
The map is a vivid illustration of Nebuchadnezzar coming from Babylonia and having to choose which of two different cities to attack. This is another example of God telling Ezekiel to act out the message. To maintain the suspense, God does not reveal the names of the two cities until the next verse.
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 .
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