king

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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:

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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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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).

informing (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The concept of “informing” (“may it be known,” “good tidings” etc.) is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-shirase (お知らせ), combining “inform” (shirase) with the respectful prefix o-.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Ezra 4:13

Now be it known to the king: The writers repeat this formula from the beginning of the letter (see the previous verse) to make an appeal to the economic consequences of the Jews’ actions: the king is in danger of losing income to the royal treasury. They state a condition (rebuilding of Jerusalem with its walls). If the condition is met, there will be one result (no taxes paid by the Jews) that will bring about a second result (harm to the empire). Translators should use a sentence construction that makes the conditional aspect clear.

If this city is rebuilt and the walls finished: In some languages it may be necessary to restructure these clauses using active verbs, for example, “If the people rebuild the city and if they complete the walls….”

They will not pay tribute, custom, or toll: The three kinds of taxes cannot be exactly defined, but generally tribute may refer to payment in money or kind to the king, custom may refer to a poll tax paid in kind and based on one’s capacity for work, and toll may refer to a property tax. Everyone other than members of the Temple hierarchy was required to pay these taxes (see Ezra 7.24). Many translations use three separate words but with closely related meanings as Revised Standard Version has done. Good News Translation groups the three payments under the one word “taxes,” while Contemporary English Version says “any kind of taxes.” Translators should try to reflect the fact that several different kinds of taxes are referred to here.

The royal revenue will be impaired: The general meaning of the text here is evident from the context, but the exact translation is uncertain. Some translations interpret as Revised Standard Version has done; for example, “the royal revenues will suffer” (New International Version, Chouraqui) or “there will be less money in your treasury” (Contemporary English Version; compare New King James Version “the king’s treasury will be diminished”). However, the word translated as revenue is a Persian loanword and may mean “in the end,” while royal is literally “kings.” Other translations therefore translate “in the end they will harm the monarchy” (New English Bible; similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “thus the king will incur a loss” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Bible de Jérusalem). These translations may better represent the Aramaic text and should therefore be followed by translators.

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 .