17And now, if it seems good to the king, have a search made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by King Cyrus for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. Let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, the Adamawa Fulfulde translation uses the exclusive pronoun, excluding Kin Darius.
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
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.”
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 Aramaic that is translated as “search” is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-shirabe (お示し), combining “examine” (shirabe) with the respectful prefix o- and “send word” as o-tsutae (お伝え), combining “pass the word (of his decision)” (tsutae) with o-. “Decision” is also translated with the help of a prefix, in this case go- (御 or ご), which can be used when the referent is God or a person or persons that is to be honored. Here go-handan (ごあいさつ) is a combination of “decision” (handan) and the honorific prefix go-.
Also, an appropriate suffix title referred to as keishō (敬称) is employed by using –sama. Here, ō-sama (王様) “king” is a combination of the nominal title ō “king” and the suffix title –sama.
Furthermore, a benefactive construction is ued. Here, oshirabe (お調べ) or “search” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”
The Persian officials finish their report with a request to look for the decree authorizing the rebuilding and confirming the claims of the Jewish leaders. The transition from the statement by the Jewish leaders to the conclusion of the report by the Persian officials is indicated by the marker Therefore. An equivalent discourse marker should be used to introduce the officials’ concluding recommendation.
If it seem good to the king is a standard clause in Aramaic letters that is used here to ask the king to look for the record without directly telling him what to do. Good News Translation uses an English expression that is addressed to a monarch under similar circumstances: “if it please your Majesty” (also New English Bible). New International Version uses an expression that is between the Aramaic form reflected in Revised Standard Version and the English form of Good News Translation when it says “if it pleases the king” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Osty-Trinquet). Parole de Vie renders it “if you judge it to be good.” Translators should use an equivalent expression in the receptor culture.
The writers of the letter suggest that he let search be made. This is similar to the request for a search that was recorded in the letter to King Artaxerxes (see Ezra 4.15). But here the search should be in the royal archives there in Babylon. This is the place where valuable records were kept. Although some translations follow the Aramaic literally in saying “the king’s treasure house” (New King James Version , Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) or “the royal treasuries” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Bible de Jérusalem), it is preferable to say “the royal archives” (Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “the royal records” (Good News Translation).
The Persian officials suggest Babylon as the place for the search because the Jews came from there and that may have been the place where the decree had been made. Other official documents have been found in Babylon including the famous Cyrus Cylinder, which proclaims Cyrus’s victory over the Babylonians, his title as king of Babylon, and his decision to rebuild the sanctuaries of the peoples in his empire (see “Translating Ezra and Nehemiah,” page 6).
To see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem: This does not mean “to see” in a literal or physical sense. The meaning is rather that the king should have a search made to find evidence in the official archives that would prove or disprove the claim that was being made by the Jewish leaders. Bible en français courant translates “in order to know if the emperor Cyrus truly gave the order to rebuild the Temple of God in Jerusalem.” In some languages this may be restructured to suggest that first a search be made and then to state the question separately: “Did King Cyrus truly give an order for them to build the House of God in Jerusalem again?”
Let the king send us his pleasure in this matter: The letter ends with a request that the king send them his pleasure. The word translated pleasure means “desire.” It is translated as “will” in Good News Translation, “decision” in New International Version, and “wishes” in Revised English Bible. This clause may be restated as follows: “May the king let us know what he wants to be done” or “… what he wants us to do in this matter.”
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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.