Ixcatlán Mazatec: “with your best/biggest thinking” (source: Robert Bascom)
Noongar: dwangka-boola, lit. “ear much” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018 — see also remember)
Kwere “to know how to live well” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Dobel: “their ear holes are long-lasting” (in Acts 6:3) (source: Jock Hughes)
Gbaya: iŋa-mgbara-mɔ or “knowing-about-things” (note that in comparison to that, “knowledge” is translated as iŋa-mɔ or “knowing things”) (source: Philip Noss in The Bible Translator 2001, p. 114ff. )
Chichewa: nzeru, meaning both “knowledge” and “wisdom” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Kako: “heart thinking” (source: Reyburn 2002, p. 190)
In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a hand gesture referring to God to indicate a human quality to communicate that wisdom does not originate from man but is linked to and connected with the fear of God (source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group):
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 28:17:
Kupsabiny: “You boasted in the beauty you had destroying your wisdom. This matter made me throw you down so that kings can learn from this that I am fierce.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “You became proud because of your beauty, and you used foolishly your wisdom so-that you will-become famous. That is why I threw you to the ground, and you became a-scene for the other kings.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “You were extremely proud because you were very handsome. Because you loved beautiful things, you did things that wise people do not do. So I threw you to the ground, and allowed other kings who saw you to laugh at you.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, 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.”
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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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Your heart was proud because of your beauty may be rendered “You became too proud because of your beauty” (New Century Version). For Your heart was proud, see Ezek 28.2; for beauty see verse 12.
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor probably means the king of Tyre became so famous and wealthy that he stopped acting wisely and started conducting his affairs out of greed and a desire for more power. Your splendor refers to his fame, wealth, and glorious position (compare verse 7). New Century Version renders this line as “You ruined your wisdom because of your greatness.” New International Reader’s Version is similar with “You thought you were so glorious that it spoiled your wisdom,” and so is Good News Translation with “and your fame made you act like a fool.” Another possible interpretation of this line is that the king misused his wisdom to enhance his position; for example, Revised English Bible has “you debased your wisdom to enhance your splendour” (similarly New English Bible).
I cast you to the ground simply means God threw the king onto the ground. The Hebrew verb for cast differs from the one used in the previous verse. It does not have the sense of banishment, disgrace, and uncleanness.
I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you is literally “I put you in front of kings to look at you.” God brought great shame to the king of Tyre by letting other kings watch him being punished. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “I have made you an object for kings to stare at,” and Contemporary English Version has “and [I] let other kings sneer at you.” It is unlikely that this public punishment was meant to be a warning to the other kings, as Good News Translation suggests with “and [I] left you as a warning to other kings” (similarly New International Reader’s Version).
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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