king

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:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • 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 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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on Hosea 3:4

This verse is parallel to the previous one in which Hosea gives commands to ensure isolation of the woman he “possesses” from all kinds of sexual temptations. Here the text describes the commands of Yahweh aimed at isolating his people from a variety of temptations. Some of the terminology of the previous verse is repeated, such as the verb dwell and the qualifier many days. The translator should make sure that these terms are translated consistently, so that the reader can identify the symbolic similarity between the verses.

The conjunction For introduces the interpretation of the symbolic action. Good News Translation renders it “In just this way.” Just as Hosea’s wife had to go through a time of discipline, so the Israelites must go through a period of discipline and deprivation.

The children of Israel shall dwell many days …: The children of Israel may be rendered “the people of Israel” (Good News Translation), “the Israelites” (New International Version), or simply “Israel” (Contemporary English Version). They were the descendants of Israel, that is, Jacob, who have formed the nation.

Without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim is a list of things God will take away from Israel. The items are arranged in three pairs: political leaders, outward forms of religion, and the means of foretelling the future. Both pagan and legitimate items are mentioned, corresponding to the figure of the woman “owned” by Hosea being deprived of both her illegitimate lovers and her legitimate owner. The Hebrew mentions the items in the singular, as in Revised Standard Version. In English this makes good poetic form, but the normal prose form is plural, as in Good News Translation. The translator has to find the most natural solution for the receptor language. It is not specified whether Israel will experience this deprivation while living in the land (2.6), while driven out to live in the wilderness (2.14), or while in exile (9.3; 11.5).

Without king or prince: The king was the monarch, of the royal line of David. The Hebrew word for prince does not necessarily refer to the son of a king, but to a political leader, an administrative official in the kingdom.

Without sacrifice or pillar: The Hebrew word for sacrifice is a generic term. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “places for sacrifice” for a better parallel with pillar. A pillar was a stone erected in a local place of worship. Jacob erected one at Bethel (Gen 28.18). Good News Translation makes its function explicit by saying “sacred stone pillars.” Similar models are “sacred pillar” (New English Bible), “cult pillars” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), and “consecrated stone monuments” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Later, in the southern kingdom of Judah, the use of such stones was condemned as part of pagan worship, and the local shrines, or “high places,” were outlawed in the days of King Josiah (2 Kgs 23.8-9). Initially they were accepted for the worship of Yahweh (Isa 19.19).

Without ephod or teraphim: Two types of ephod seem to have been used in Israel. One was a vestment worn by the High Priest, in which was a pocket holding the divining stones called Urim and Thummim (so Biblia Dios Habla Hoy with “priestly robes”). Another was an image, or a garment placed on an image; for example, Gideon used one when he turned the worship of Yahweh into pagan worship (Jdg 8.24-27). Teraphim is a transliterated Hebrew noun referring to “household idols” (New American Bible), which were definitely considered pagan. They could vary in size from a few centimeters (inches) to about 1.5 meters (5 feet). Since both were used in divination, we may suppose that the two are mentioned together because of their common function. Divination is the attempt to determine the future or to get answers to specific problems by supernatural means. Good News Translation assumes that the ephod is an idol, and retains both the form and the function of both by saying “without idols or images to use for divination.” Bible en français courant renders the function alone: “deprived also of that which serves in consulting God.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has simply “and no oracle.” If the preceding combinations have been translated as pairs, it is recommended for stylistic reasons to do the same here.

A translation model for this verse is:

• In the same way the people of Israel will have to stay for a long time without kings or officials, without sacrifices or sacred pillars, without divining stones and family idols.

Quoted with permission from Dorn, Louis & van Steenbergen, Gerrit. A Handbook on Hosea. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .