17The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the royal deputy and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezra 4:17:
Kupsabiny: “The king replied to those people in a letter that: Let these words reach Rehum who is in charge of soldiers and Shimshai the secretary and all your friends who are living in Samaria and all other places in the west across the river Euphrates. I am greeting you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “King Artaxerxes gave answer like this, "To Governor Rehum, Regional Secretary Shimshai, and to those who work with them who live in Samaria and in the other remaining territories west of the Euphrates, salutations!” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “This is the answer which the king sent: ‘I greet you (sing.) Governor Rehum, to you (sing.) Shimshai the secretary, and to your (plur.) companions who live in Samaria and in other places west of Eufrates. ‘May your (plur.) situation be fine.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “After the king read this letter, he sent this reply to them: ‘To Rehum, the high commissioner, and Shimshai, the provincial secretary, and their colleagues in Samaria and in other parts of the province that is west of the Euphrates River: I send you my greetings/wish that things will go well for you.” (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.”
The emperor answers the letter of the Jewish adversaries in verses 17-22. He takes the accusation of the writers seriously. He reports that the information they sent him about the rebellion and sedition of Jerusalem has been confirmed from the records. Therefore they are to issue an order stopping the rebuilding of the city until he makes a decree.
There is no formal discourse marker in the Aramaic text to introduce what follows the letter that was sent to the king. Bible en français courant uses a subtitle to indicate what follows next in the account: “Response of King Artaxerxes” (similarly English Standard Version). Translators should use at least a paragraph break to indicate the shift in the account that will now relate the king’s response.
The king or the emperor sends an answer in the form of a letter, and this is quoted in the verses that follow. The text is in the traditional letter form. This includes naming the people to whom it is addressed and an opening salutation. The people named are the same two people who were named as sending the first letter and the rest of their associates in Samaria and elsewhere in the province Beyond the River. There is selective repetition of information that was given in verses 8-10 (see above).
The opening of the king’s letter ends with the word greeting. This is the well-known Semitic greeting “Peace.” The meaning here is not the religious sense of Old Testament theology, but rather the more everyday meaning of a greeting. Therefore it is not necessary to translate “peace” as a number of translations have done (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Osty-Trinquet). Good News Translation interprets it with the modern-day English expression “greetings” (also New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version). This however may be too informal for a king’s letter. An equivalent to “I greet you” (Bible en français courant) or the more formal “I wish you well-being and blessing” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) should be used in the receptor language.
And now: See the comments on verses 10 and 11.
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 .
¶ The king/chief replied as follows: -or-
¶ The king/ruler, ⌊Artaxerxes, read the letter and⌋ answered them by sending this letter ⌊to them⌋ :
4:17b To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe,
¶ “To High Officer Rehum, to Secretary Shimshai, -or-
¶ Vice Governor Rehum and ⌊royal/court⌋ secretary/writer Shimshai,
4:17c and the rest of your associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates: Greetings.
and to the rest of your (plur.) colleagues/associates who live in Samaria ⌊city⌋ and in other parts of Beyond the River Euphrates ⌊Province⌋. Peace ⌊to you⌋. -or-
I greet you, together with your companions in ⌊the city of⌋ Samaria and the towns of Western ⌊Province⌋.
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