18Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for instruction shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us bring charges against him, and let us not heed any of his words.”
The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that are typically translated as “priest” in English (itself deriving from Latin “presbyter” — “elder”) is often translated with a consideration of existing religious traditions. (Click or tap for details)
Bratcher / Nida (1961) say this:
“However, rather than borrow local names for priests, some of which have unwanted connotations, a number of translations have employed descriptive phrases based on certain functions: (1) those describing a ceremonial activity: Pamona uses tadu, the priestess who recites the litanies in which she describes her journey to the upper or under-world to fetch life-spirit for sick people, animals or plants; Batak Toba uses the Arabic malim, ‘Muslim religious teacher;’ ‘one who presents man’s sacrifice to God’ (Bambara, Eastern Maninkakan), ‘one who presents sacrifices’ (Baoulé, Navajo (Dinė)), ‘one who takes the name of the sacrifice’ (Kpelle, and ‘to make a sacrifice go out’ (Hausa); (2) those describing an intermediary function: ‘one who speaks to God’ (Shipibo-Conibo) and ‘spokesman of the people before God’ (Tabasco Chontal).”
In Obolo it is translated as ogwu ngwugwa or “the one who offers sacrifice” (source: Enene Enene), in Mairasi as agam aevar nevwerai: “religious leader” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Ignaciano as “blesser, one who does ritual as a practice” (using a generic term rather than the otherwise common Spanish loan word sacerdote) (source: Willis Ott in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.), and in Noongar as yakin-kooranyi or “holy worker” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
For Guhu-Samane, Ernest Richert (in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. ) reports this: “The [local] cult of Poro used to be an all-encompassing religious system that essentially governed all areas of life. (…) For ‘priest’ the term ‘poro father’ would at first seem to be a natural choice. However, several priests of the old cult are still living. Although they no longer function primarily as priests of the old system they still have a substantial influence on the community, and there would be more than a chance that the unqualified term would (in some contexts particularly) be equated with the priest of the poro cult. We learned, then, that the poro fathers would sometimes be called ‘knife men’ in relation to their sacrificial work. The panel was pleased to apply this term to the Jewish priest, and the Christian community has adopted it fully. [Mark 1:44, for instance, now] reads: ‘You must definitely not tell any man of this. But you go show your body to the knife man and do what Moses said about a sacrifice concerning your being healed, and the cause (base of this) will be apparent.'”
For a revision of the 1968 version of the Bible in Khmer Joseph Hong (in: The Bible Translator 1996, 233ff. ) talks about a change in wording for this term:
Bau cha r (បូជាចារ្យ) — The use of this new construction meaning “priest” is maintained to translate the Greek word hiereus. The term “mean sang (មាន សង្ឃ)” used in the old version actually means a “Buddhist monk,” and is felt to be theologically misleading. The Khmer considers the Buddhist monk as a “paddy field of merits,” a reserve of merits to be shared with other people. So a Khmer reader would find unthinkable that the mean sang in the Bible killed animals, the gravest sin for a Buddhist; and what a scandal it would be to say that a mean sang was married, had children, and drank wine.
Eugene Nida wrote the following about the translation of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek terms that are typically translated with “prophet” in English:
“The tendency in many translations is to use ‘to foretell the future’ for ‘prophesy,’ and ‘one who foretells the future’ for ‘prophet.’ This is not always a recommended usage, particularly if such expressions denote certain special native practices of spirit contact and control. It is true, of course, that prophets of the Bible did foretell the future, but this was not always their principal function. One essential significance of the Greek word prophētēs is ‘one who speaks forth,’ principally, of course, as a forth-teller of the Divine will. A translation such as ‘spokesman for God’ may often be employed profitably.” (1947, p. 234f.)
Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages (click or tap for details):
Ayutla Mixtec: “one who talks as God’s representative”
Isthmus Mixe: “speaker for God” (source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Mezquital Otomi / Paasaal: “God’s messenger” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff. and Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
Noongar: Warda Marridjiny or “News Traveling” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Kutu: mtula ndagu or “one who gives the prediction of the past and the future” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
French 1985 translation by Chouraqui: inspiré or “inspired one” (“someone in whom God has breathed [Latin: in + spiro]) (source: Watson 2023, p. 45)
In Ixcatlán Mazatec a term is used that specifically includes women. (Source: Robert Bascom)
“In some instances these spiritual terms result from adaptations reflecting the native life and culture. Among the Northern Grebo people of Liberia, a missionary wanted some adequate term for ‘prophet,’ and she was fully aware that the native word for ‘soothsayer’ or ‘diviner’ was no equivalent for the Biblical prophet who spoke forth for God. Of course, much of what the prophets said referred to the future, and though this was an essential part of much of their ministry, it was by no means all. The right word for the Gbeapo people would have to include something which would not only mean the foretelling of important events but the proclamation of truth as God’s representative among the people. At last the right word came; it was ‘God’s town-crier.’ Every morning and evening the official representative of the chief goes through the village crying out the news, delivering the orders of the chief, and announcing important coming events. ‘God’s town-crier’ would be the official representative of God, announcing to the people God’s doings, His commands, and His pronouncements for their salvation and well-being. For the Northern Grebo people the prophet is no weird person from forgotten times; he is as real as the human, moving message of the plowman Amos, who became God’s town-crier to a calloused people.” (source: Nida 1952, p. 20)
In British Sign Language it is is translated with a sign that depicts a message coming from God to a person (the upright finger) and then being passed on to others. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Prophet” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Then they said is translated “Then the people said” by Good News Translation and “There were some people who said” by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch.
Come (used twice in this verse) serves as a transitional marker, encouraging people to do something (see also 48.2; a different Hebrew word is used similarly in 35.11; 50.5). In everyday English people can often say “Come on…” (New Jerusalem Bible).
Make plots against Jeremiah can be expressed as “plan to do something to Jeremiah” or “decide on a way to get Jeremiah out of our way.”
The plot against Jeremiah results from his message, which predicts a time when God will no longer speak to his people through priests, wise men, or prophets. For this reason, following let us make plots against Jeremiah, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch includes “He lies!” Revised Standard Version is ambiguous, and the Good News Translation restructuring suggests that if the people get rid of Jeremiah, there will still be the priests, wise men, and other prophets.
The law shall not perish from the priest essentially means either “the priests will not be lacking in instruction [to give us]” or “there will still be priests who can give us instruction.” Nor counsel from the wise means “the wise people will not lack in counsel [to give us]” or “there will still be wise people to counsel us,” and nor the word from the prophet can mean “the prophets will still be able to give us the word [or, message] from the LORD” or “we will still have prophets to give us the LORD’s word.” Translators can choose whichever of these pairs of alternative expressions that make the point most clearly in their language. The three negative statements (the law shall not … nor … nor …) may be better expressed as positive statements (see Good News Translation and the examples above). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is effective: “Never will our priests lack instruction, our skilled people good counsel, our prophets the word, which comes from God!”
In the present context law is best understood with the meaning of “instruction” (Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, New American Bible), as Revised English Bible indicates: “There will still be priests to guide us.” A second group of people Israel expected guidance from were the wise (see 8.8-9). The third group Jeremiah directed himself against were the prophets (see 2.8; 14.13-16; 23.9-40). The word that comes from the prophet is the word or message from the LORD. The priest, the wise, and the prophet are singulars in form, but they refer to the priests, wise people, and prophets as groups. Consequently, many translations use plural forms. For priest see 1.1, and for prophet refer to 1.5.
Let us smite him with the tongue represents the Hebrew text, which is rendered “let us bring charges against him” by New Revised Standard Version. This is similar to “Let’s bring charges against him” in Good News Translation, “let us slander him” in New Jerusalem Bible, and “Let us invent some charges against him” in Revised English Bible. New American Bible (“let us destroy him by his own tongue”) follows the Syriac. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends that the Hebrew be followed.
Not heed any of his words is translated “stop listening to what he says” by Good News Translation, “pay no attention to his message” by New English Bible, and “pay no attention to anything he says” by New Jerusalem Bible. New American Bible “carefully note his every word” follows the Septuagint, and suggests that Jeremiah’s enemies want to get evidence against him in what he says.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.