8May it be known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built of hewn stone, and timber is laid in the walls; this work is being done diligently and prospers in their hands.
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 Jarai translation and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation use the exclusive pronoun. (“They are saying ‘we’ in the sense of those speaking only, and not ‘we’ inclusive of the king to whom they are writing.”)
The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezra 5:8:
Kupsabiny: “The king should know that, we went to the region of Judah up to the House of the great God. We saw that this house was being built with big stones and tree/timber was being put in/at the walls. This work is progressing well with energy/strength.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Great King, we went to the district of Judah. The people there have been building a temple for the great God with large rocks. And they have been putting long wood [beams] in the wall. The work has been going well, and they have been doing the work very quickly. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “We (excl.) are-informing you (sing.), Beloved King, that we (excl.) went to the province of Juda, there at the place-of-building of the temple of the mighty God. Big stones are-being-used in building the temple, and its stone-walls were-laid by logs in-order to-be-strong. They were diligent in their working/building, so the building of it went-quickly.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘We want you to know that we went to Judah Province, where the temple of the great God is being rebuilt. The people are building it with huge stones, and they are putting wooden beams in the walls. The work is being done very carefully, and they are progressing well.” (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.”
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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-.
The Persian officials sent a report to King Darius in the traditional form of a letter. The report states only facts with no opinion being expressed:
1) they went to Jerusalem,
2) they observed the state of the building project,
3) they requested information about authorization for the project and a list of names, and
4) they received the reply of those responsible for the project.
Now they were requesting confirmation of this information from the royal archives.
Be it known to the king: The message begins in the formal style of a report (see the comments on Ezra 4.12). Revised Standard Version translates the letter formally while Good News Translation “Your Majesty should know” is an equivalent but more natural English style.
We went expresses the meaning of an exclusive first person plural form. They are saying “we” in the sense of those speaking only, and not “we” inclusive of the king to whom they are writing.
Province of Judah: See the comments on Ezra 2.1.
To the house of the great God: The Persian officials refer to the God of Israel as the great God (also Neh 8.6). The same designation for the God of Israel has been found in Persian tablets from Persepolis, and thus it is not strange for these Persian officials to use this title. It is used by them as a term of respect, not to indicate that he is the supreme or most powerful God.
It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls: The Temple is described as being made of huge stones. These were large, square-cut stones used for walls and buildings. The Aramaic word translated huge means “hewn” (so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “polished,” but most versions understand it here to refer to their large size. And there was timber … laid in the walls. Timber is lumber or “wooden beams” (Good News Translation). The Aramaic word rendered walls refers to the walls of a building. Here it refers to the walls of the Temple. A description given in Ezra 6.4.
The work is described with passive verbs, It is being built and timber is laid. The writers focus first on what is being done to the Temple and not on the people who are doing the work. For languages that do not have the passive verb form, New International Version provides a good alternative with active verbs as follows: “The people are building it with large stones and placing the timbers in the walls.” In some languages an indefinite “they” may be used with active verbs instead of the passive verbs.
This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands: These two clauses are two parallel and synonymous ways of describing the state of the work. In the first clause the term diligently basically means “in full measure” and can also be translated as “thoroughly,” as in New English Bible: “The work was being done thoroughly.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says it “is being done with dispatch.” In many languages translators will need to use an active verb form, for example, “the work that they are doing, they are doing it thoroughly.”
The work … prospers in their hands, that is, “it is advancing in their hands” (Bible de Jérusalem) or “it is successful in their hands” (Nouvelle version Segond révisée). New English Bible says the work “was making good progress under their direction” (similarly New International Version). It may be useful to restructure this clause while still keeping an idiom that is similar to the one in Aramaic, for example, “the work there in their hands goes forward.” Nevertheless, the focus should be kept clearly on the work and the Temple and not on the people.
At the end of the verse Revised English Bible adds “under the direction of the elders,” reflecting 1 Esdras 6.8 and providing an antecedent to “those elders” in the next verse. But “those” does not require an antecedent. It is used there to belittle the elders (see Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). The addition of “elders” in this verse is not recommended (Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, B rating).
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 .
5:8a Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God.
We (excl.) want to inform the king that we went to the region/area of Judah to the temple of the great God. -or-
⌊Your Majesty,⌋ we ⌊your servants⌋ went to the house of the powerful God ⌊of Israel⌋ in the land of Judah.
5:8b The people are rebuilding it with large stones, and placing timbers in the walls.
The temple is being built with huge stones, and wood is being set in the walls. -or-
The builders are repairing it using big, ⌊cut⌋ stones, and they are placing ⌊layers of⌋ wooden beams/planks/boards in its walls.
5:8c This work is being carried out diligently and is prospering in their hands.
The work is being done very carefully/thoroughly and is progressing/succeeding quickly through their effort. -or-
They are doing excellent and rapid work.
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