complete verse (Ezekiel 32:29)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 32:29:

  • Kupsabiny: “Look, there is also the king of Edom and the leaders. He was a brave man in battle but, he lies flat in the world of the dead with people who do not have the true religion, those killed in battle.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘There also in the place of the dead- ones the kings of Edom and all their officials. They were mighty before, but now they were-laid-down-in-full-view in the place of the dead-ones with the ones who did not believe in God who died in battle.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “People of the Edom people-group will be there, along with their kings and leaders. They were powerful, but they will be killed and lie there in the place where the other dead people are. They will lie there in that deep pit, with the other godless people.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

king

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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:

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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 Ezekiel 32:29

Edom is there, her kings and all her princes: Edom is the next country on the list of great nations who went to the underworld. It was a traditional enemy of the people of Judah (see the introductory comments on 25.12-14). However, Edom was not destroyed until about 30 years after this prophecy, so God is looking forward to the time when Edom will be destroyed and be in the world of the dead. Instead of all the people or army, the only Edomites mentioned as being in the underworld are her kings and all her princes, that is, her kings and all her other leaders. New Century Version says “its kings and all its leaders” (similarly Contemporary English Version), Good News Translation has “her kings and rulers,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates “her kings and all her chieftains.”

Who for all their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword: For all their might (“despite their power” in New International Version) indicates that the Edomites were a great power, but that will not prevent them also going down into the depths of the underworld. Are laid is a passive verb; it does not specify who will lay them down. Some translators will need to say “they lie in the world of the dead.” For those who are slain by the sword, see verse 20.

They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the Pit: The verb lie again pictures the grave as a bed (see verses 19 and 25). For uncircumcised see verse 21; for the Pit, see verse 18.

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 .