Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 20:1:
Kupsabiny: “Sargon who was ruling Assyria sent his ruler/commander of his soldiers to go and fight the city of Ashdod. Those soldiers fought that city and captured (it).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “In accordance with the order of king Sargon of Assyria, [his] most important captain came to Ashdod, attacked and conquered it. In that year,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “According to the command of King Sargon of Asiria, the commander of the soldiers of Asiria attacked Ashdod, and took- it -by-force.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “One year King Sargon of Assyria sent the chief commander of his army to take his soldiers to capture Ashdod city in Philistia.” (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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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.”
In the year that …: Revised Standard Version treats this verse as a temporal clause, with the main clause coming in verse 3. However, it should be read as a complete sentence (so Good News Translation). Revised English Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh do this by beginning with “It was the year that….” For Good News TranslationIn the year is a general time reference that does not need to be rendered explicitly.
The commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod: The Assyrian king, Sargon~II, sent his army commander to the Philistine city of Ashdod in 711 B.C. He sent him there because the leader of Ashdod had refused to pay tribute to Assyria. Not only did he withhold tribute, but he also tried to convince Judah and other nations to join him in his rebellion. For commander in chief, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “Tartan,” which is a title given to the Assyrian army chief in 2 Kgs 18.17. Here it is better to say “general” (New American Bible), “commander-in-chief of the army” (similarly Good News Translation), “army commander” (Contemporary English Version), or “[highest/top] commander of the army.” Some languages may need to render the passive verb was sent as an active one; see the first example below. Good News Translation renders the king of Assyria as “Emperor … of Assyria.” This is appropriate since Assyria was dominating many countries at that time. If translators do not have a word for “emperor,” it may be possible to say “big/great king.” Ashdod was one of the five major Philistine cities. Translators should probably add the important implied information that it was a Philistine city (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant). For “Philistia” see 2.6 and 9.12.
And fought against it and took it: The Assyrian army commander attacked Ashdod and captured it, ending the rebellion.
Translation examples for this verse are:
• When the army commander sent by the Assyrian emperor Sargon came to Ashdod, he fought against it and captured it.
• Emperor Sargon of Assyria sent his army chief to the city of Ashdod of the Philistines. He attacked and captured it.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.