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)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezra 7:8:
Kupsabiny: “Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month in the seventh year when/while Artaxerxes was ruling.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Then in the 5th month of the 7th year of that same king, Ezra arrived in Jerusalem.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Ezra left Babilonia on the first day of the first month. And with the help of God, he was-able-to-arrive in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, on the seventh year of the reign of Artaserkses.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “We left Babylon on April 8, which was the first day of the Jewish year. Because God was very kind to us, we arrived safely in Jerusalem on August 4 of that year.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, 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.”
He came: In verse 8 MT has the singular form “he came,” but there is strong support in other Hebrew manuscripts and the Greek and Syriac versions for the plural “they came.” Good News Translation has followed this tradition (also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Since the subject of the passage is “Ezra” and the next verse refers to Ezra with a singular form of the same verb, it is advisable to keep the singular form in translation.
The repetition of seventh year in verses 7 and 8 is to indicate that the people arrived in Jerusalem in the same year that they departed from Babylonia.
Verse 9 gives the exact times of their departure and arrival. The first day of the first month was the first of the Babylonian month called Nisan. This day is the vernal equinox or first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. The first day of the fifth month was the first of the month called Ab, which is in the middle of summer (see “Translating Ezra and Nehemiah,” pages 25-26). From Babylon to Jerusalem was a journey of about 1,300 kilometers (about 800 miles), so they traveled 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) a day on the average.
He began to go up from Babylonia: The Hebrew text says literally “that was the foundation of the going up from Babylon.” This is very awkward and has led to the assumption that the text has been corrupted. By changing the vowels in one word, it reads “he determined the going up from Babylon” (Septuagint), which New English Bible renders as “Ezra fixed the day for departure from Babylon.” The pronoun “he” in the Septuagint should be understood as referring to Ezra. New Revised Standard Version has “the journey up from Babylon was begun” (similarly New International Version; compare Good News Translation “They left Babylonia”). A problem with this translation is that the actual day of departure was the “twelfth day of the first month” (Ezra 8.31), a delay caused by the need to find more Levites to take the journey. Accordingly, it is better to say the time of the departure was “determined,” “fixed” or “set” to begin on the first day of the first month. The actual date of departure was two days before Passover and marked a new “exodus” from exile.
The good hand of his God was upon him: See the discussion on verses 6-7 above for the meaning of this expression, but here the text is more explicit. The writer has added the adjective good, which New Revised Standard Version translates as “gracious.” Bible en français courant restructures this idiom to refer to “the gracious protection that his God granted to him,” and Revised English Bible has “the favour of God was with him.” It may be translated with a similar natural expression in the receptor language, for example, “the hand of doing good of God was with him.”
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 .
7:8 Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king.
¶ It was in the fifth month⌊⌋ of that seventh year when/that Ezra arrived in Jerusalem. -or-
¶ Ezra ⌊and the other Jews with him⌋ arrived in Jerusalem in ⌊the month of Ab,⌋ the fifth month of the year. -or-
¶ I ⌊and those who traveled with me⌋ reached/entered Jerusalem in the fifth month of our (incl.) calendar.
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