7By the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the whole earth, and by the power of him who has sent you to direct every living being! Not only do humans serve him because of you, but also the animals of the field and the cattle and the birds of the air will live because of your power, under Nebuchadnezzar and all his house.
The Greek and Hebrew phrases that are often translated as “birds of the air” in English “refer to the undomesticated song birds or wild birds, to be distinguished in a number of languages from domesticated fowl. In Tzeltal these former are ‘field birds’.” (source: Bratcher / Nida)
Q’anjob’al also uses an established term for non-domesticated birds. Newberry and Kittie Cox (in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. ) explain: “Qʼanjobʼal has two distinct terms, one to identify domesticated birds and the other non-domesticated birds. The additional descriptive phrase ‘of the air’ seemed entirely misleading, for Qʼanjobʼal speakers had never heard of such creatures. Actually, of course, all that was necessary was the term for non-domesticated birds, for that is precisely the meaning of the Biblical expression.”
In Elhomwe they are just translated as “birds” or “birds of the bush” (i.e., wild birds) to “not give the impression that these are special type of birds.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The term that is transliterated as “Nebuchadnezzar” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the signs for “king” and one signifying a wavy beard, referring to the common way of wearing a beard in Mesopotamia (see here ). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Nebuchadnezzar” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting “idol in my image,” referring to Daniel 3:1. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
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.”
Nebuchadnezzar the king of the whole world lives, and as his power endures: Good News Translation‘s “I swear to you by the life and strength of Nebuchadnezzar” (similarly Contemporary English Version) gets the meaning of the Greek text. Judith is affirming something that Holofernes, servant of Nebuchadnezzar, would perceive as binding. He would see it as an expression of loyalty, but the reader sees it as meaningless since life and strength belong to God, not Nebuchadnezzar. An alternative translation model is: “I affirm that Nebuchadnezzar lives. He is king over the whole world.” For king of the whole earth, see “lord of the whole earth” in 2.5.
Who had sent you to direct every living soul: Every living soul refers to human beings, animals, and birds, as in the following clauses. Good News Translation renders this “who sent you to bring order to all the subjects of his kingdom.”
Not only do men serve him because of you, but also the beasts of the field and the cattle and the birds of the air will live by your power under Nebuchadnezzar and all his house: Men means “all people” (male and female). Beasts of the field refers to wild animals (jungle animals). In most languages the use of field will not be necessary. Birds of the air literally translates a Hebrew expression. Most languages will not need to add of the air. Good News Translation has a footnote indicating that from “not only have you made people…” to the end, the verse is unclear in Greek. It is. It is complicated by the preposition under, which does not yield good sense with what follows. There are some textual variants in the manuscripts, but they do not help a great deal. Of the several solutions, the two represented by Revised Standard Version (as well as New Revised Standard Version, where the sentence has been repunctuated for clarity) and Good News Translation are the most reasonable.
The Revised Standard Version solution is simpler, but it is questionable from a grammatical standpoint. It involves changing the grammatical case of the phrase after the preposition under. New Revised Standard Version reflects this solution as follows:
Not only do people serve him because of you but also the animals of the field and the cattle and the birds of the air will live, because of your power, under Nebuchadnezzar and all his house.
Here “animals … cattle … birds” are subjects of “will live.”
The Good News Translation solution is more involved, but it is more convincing. It involves omitting the troublesome preposition (for which there is good manuscript evidence) and putting “and his house” in a different grammatical case (for which there is some slight evidence). The result is (Good News Translation reworded):
Not only have you made people serve him, but even the wild animals, the livestock, and the birds obey him. Because of you, Nebuchadnezzar and his whole kingdom will prosper [live].
Here “people … wild animals … livestock … birds” are subjects of “serve/obey,” which Good News Translation represents twice for clarity. Nebuchadnezzar and all his house becomes the subject of “will live.” This really seems to be the best way to go. It is supported by Enslin and Moore in their commentaries. When Judith says this, she means that people shout “Long live King Nebuchadnezzar” because of Holofernes’ support. On the animals in relation to the king, compare Jer 27.6 and Dan 2.37-38. Nebuchadnezzar and all his house may refer to the king and his court officials, but Good News Translation takes it to mean his kingdom. This is reasonable, and recommended.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• I affirm to you that King Nebuchadnezzar lives. He rules over the whole world, and you have brought every living thing under his control. Not only have you made people all over the world serve him, but also the wild animals and livestock and birds obey him. Because of you, Nebuchadnezzar and his whole kingdom will prosper.
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Judith. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.
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