priest

Click here to view graphically

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that are typically translated as “priest” in English (itself deriving from Latin “presbyter” — “elder”) is often translated with a consideration of existing religious traditions. (Click or tap for details)

Bratcher / Nida (1961) say this:

“However, rather than borrow local names for priests, some of which have unwanted connotations, a number of translations have employed descriptive phrases based on certain functions: (1) those describing a ceremonial activity: Pamona uses tadu, the priestess who recites the litanies in which she describes her journey to the upper or under-world to fetch life-spirit for sick people, animals or plants; Batak Toba uses the Arabic malim, ‘Muslim religious teacher;’ ‘one who presents man’s sacrifice to God’ (Bambara, Eastern Maninkakan), ‘one who presents sacrifices’ (Baoulé, Navajo (Dinė)), ‘one who takes the name of the sacrifice’ (Kpelle, and ‘to make a sacrifice go out’ (Hausa); (2) those describing an intermediary function: ‘one who speaks to God’ (Shipibo-Conibo) and ‘spokesman of the people before God’ (Tabasco Chontal).”

In Obolo it is translated as ogwu ngwugwa or “the one who offers sacrifice” (source: Enene Enene), in Mairasi as agam aevar nevwerai: “religious leader” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Ignaciano as “blesser, one who does ritual as a practice” (using a generic term rather than the otherwise common Spanish loan word sacerdote) (source: Willis Ott in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.), and in Noongar as yakin-kooranyi or “holy worker” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

For Guhu-Samane, Ernest Richert (in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. ) reports this: “The [local] cult of Poro used to be an all-encompassing religious system that essentially governed all areas of life. (…) For ‘priest’ the term ‘poro father’ would at first seem to be a natural choice. However, several priests of the old cult are still living. Although they no longer function primarily as priests of the old system they still have a substantial influence on the community, and there would be more than a chance that the unqualified term would (in some contexts particularly) be equated with the priest of the poro cult. We learned, then, that the poro fathers would sometimes be called ‘knife men’ in relation to their sacrificial work. The panel was pleased to apply this term to the Jewish priest, and the Christian community has adopted it fully. [Mark 1:44, for instance, now] reads: ‘You must definitely not tell any man of this. But you go show your body to the knife man and do what Moses said about a sacrifice concerning your being healed, and the cause (base of this) will be apparent.'”

For a revision of the 1968 version of the Bible in Khmer Joseph Hong (in: The Bible Translator 1996, 233ff. ) talks about a change in wording for this term:

​​Bau cha r (បូជា‌ចារ្យ) — The use of this new construction meaning “priest” is maintained to translate the Greek word hiereus. The term “mean sang (មាន សង្ឃ)” used in the old version actually means a “Buddhist monk,” and is felt to be theologically misleading. The Khmer considers the Buddhist monk as a “paddy field of merits,” a reserve of merits to be shared with other people. So a Khmer reader would find unthinkable that the mean sang in the Bible killed animals, the gravest sin for a Buddhist; and what a scandal it would be to say that a mean sang was married, had children, and drank wine.

See also idolatrous priests.

complete verse (Ezra 2:61)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezra 2:61:

  • Kupsabiny: “Houses/families of other priests who returned are: Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai. (This man called Barzillai had married a daughter of Barzillai of Gilead and he is also called by that name.)” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then, among the descendants of the priests, [there were] the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz and the descendants of Barzillai, who, having married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite, took his name.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The descendants of Habaya, Hakoz, and Barzilai also could- not -prove that they were priests. (When this Barzilai married, he carried the name of his father-in-law Barzilai whose of/from-Gilead.) Because they could- not -find the list of their ancestors, they were not accepted as priests.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Hobaiah’s clan, Hakkoz’s clan, and Barzillai’s clan also returned. Barzillai had married a woman who was a descendant of Barzillai from the Gilead region, and he had taken for himself the name of his father-in-law’s clan.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezra 2:61, Ezra 2:62

Also: This adverb, which represents the Hebrew connective conjunction, indicates that the list continues from the preceding verses, and at the same time it sets it off because the legitimacy of the priests was even more important than the legitimacy of the ordinary people that were listed before. It was considered that if a person was not of true priestly descent, his participation in the Temple ceremonies would make the Temple ritually unclean and would contaminate the community.

Three names are cited for the sons of the priests but no total number is recorded. Habaiah is unknown apart from this reference. Hakkoz was a priest during the reign of King David (1 Chr 24.10). His line was apparently reinstated since one of his descendants, Meremoth, served as a priest in Jerusalem (Ezra 8.33; Neh 3.4, 21). Barzillai had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite, a nobleman from Gilead who lived at the time of King David (2 Sam 19.31-39). There is no other example in the Old Testament of a man who is called by the name of his wife’s family. A priest would become disqualified by receiving an inheritance from his wife’s family because priests were forbidden to have a share of the land (Num 18.20). Good News Translation expands the information about Barzillai into a full sentence to explain the origin of the name Barzillai. This is a cultural detail that can be made explicit as follows: “Barzillai was not his original name. He had taken the name of his [father-]in-law who was from Gilead.” Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation set off this information about Barzillai in parentheses to indicate that it is a type of editorial comment. New Jerusalem Bible uses a dash to mark off this information.

These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there: Whether the meaning of the Hebrew is that they searched unsuccessfully for their own names in documents of recorded family ancestries as Revised Standard Version interprets it (also New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant), or that they searched for their own family documents and were unable to find them as New International Version translates it (also New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Nouvelle version Segond révisée), the meaning is essentially the same. Official evidence of their ancestry could not be found and therefore they “could not prove that they were priests” (Contemporary English Version).

Genealogies were kept by families in documents with the listing of family ancestors. Those who could not prove their lineage were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. They were not permitted to perform any priestly duties because they were considered to be ritually impure and would pollute whatever they touched. This was not being dirty in a physical sense but in a religious or spiritual sense. In some cultures the expression “not being clean” may be used but with an indication that it has a religious meaning; for example, “the way of themselves was not clean.”

They were excluded is a general statement of principle. It does not indicate who enforced the rule, but in the following verse the governor does so. If the receptor language does not use passive verbal constructions, an indefinite third person plural as subject may be used, for example, “people excluded them,” or another linguistic device may be used to avoid identifying a definite subject.

Good News Translation restructures verses 61-62 into shorter and more natural sentences in English. It also separates verse 62 from verse 63 as distinct sentences, so that they are easier to read and understand. Translators should do similarly in their languages to simplify reading and understanding.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Ezra. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .