Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Habakkuk 1:10:
Kupsabiny: “Those people mock kings and despise leaders. They laugh at every guarded place. They scorn/look down upon a wall, because they heap soil and climb (it) to go into a city” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities. By building earthen ramps they capture them.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “They just laugh at kings and leaders. And just- also -laugh every fortified stone-wall of the cities, for they can- it -climb-up by piling earth beside the wall, and then they can-capture the city.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The kings and rulers, they mock/belittle (them). There-is-no fence of a town that can-block them, because they pile-up soil up-which-they-climb to destroy the fence, then they defeat the city.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “But because you have destroyed others, you have caused your family to be shamed/disgraced, and you yourselves will be killed.” (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.”
Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most English versions appear to ignore the fact that in this verse the Hebrew pronouns in they scoff and They laugh are emphatic. Jerusalem Bible comes closest to representing this, with “They are a people that scoff at kings.” Another way in English to show the emphasis is “These Babylonians are a people who….” This can be repeated at the beginning of the second half of the verse.
The first half of the verse says essentially the same thing twice, as is clear from Revised Standard Version, At kings they scoff, and of rulers they make sport. Scoff means to mock or scorn, and make sport means make fun of. It has nothing to do with athletic sports. The idea of scoff (Good News Translation “treat … with contempt”) can be translated in a variety of ways; for example, “They treat kings as if they were nothing,” “They look down their noses at kings,” “They sneer at…,” or “They shake their fingers at….” Make sport (Good News Translation “laugh at”) is similar in meaning but is a more active form of contempt. Here the conquerors are trying to show the defeated rulers how weak and foolish they are. In some languages make sport can be translated as “cause to lose face.” For rulers, see the translation note on “princes” in Nahum 3.17.
The second half of the verse is also in two parts, but in this case the second is not parallel in meaning to the first, so they cannot be combined. The first part is similar to the statements in the first half of the verse (They laugh at every fortress in Revised Standard Version). However, it sounds a little odd in English to laugh at something which is not personal, so Good News Translation turns this statement around and expresses its meaning in plain language as “No fortress can stop them.” Fortress may be translated as “city with strong walls,” or in certain languages as “large group of houses with a strong high wall around it” (see comment on Nahum 3.12). “Stop them” may also be translated as “prevent them from entering,” or “defend itself against them,” or “is an obstacle to them.”
The words they heap up earth and take it refer to one ancient method of besieging a town or fortress. This involved heaping a ramp of earth against its wall until the top of the ramp was level with the top of the wall. Then the attackers could climb the ramp, cross the wall, and capture the town or fortress. See the illustration at the discussion of Nahum 2.1.
Another translation model for this verse is:
• The Babylonian soldiers make fun of kings and laugh at their high officials (or, the chief servants of the kings). No city with strong walls can keep them from entering. They pile up earth against the walls and capture the city.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
1:10a They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn.
⌊These Babylonians⌋ scorn kings and make fun of rulers. -or-
For them ⌊there are no great/strong/powerful⌋ kings. They ⌊only⌋ laugh at them.
1:10b They laugh at every fortress
⌊These Babylonians⌋ make fun of every fortress, -or-
They laughed at all the cities ⌊who thought that their⌋ fortresses ⌊could defend them⌋ . -or-
They laughed at any city with very strong/high walls ⌊because they knew that those walls would not stop them⌋ .
1:10c and build up siege ramps to seize it.
They make piles of earth against those fortresses to capture them. -or-
They gather dirt and put it ⌊against those walls to climb up and⌋ capture those cities. -or-
They take dirt ⌊to the city walls⌋ and build a slope against them. ⌊Then they climb the slope⌋ and take the city.
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