1When King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Joshua” is translated in Swiss-German Sign Language with a sign that depicts a trumpet of rams’ horn, referring to Joshua 6:4 and following.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 10:1:
Kupsabiny: “Then, the king of Jerusalem who was called Adonizedek heard that Joshua had taken the city of Ai, and ruined it. (He) killed the king of the city, like he did to Jericho and its king. He had also heard that the people of Gibeon had made a peace treaty with the people of Israel and they had joined each other/become allies.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Adoni-zedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard the report that just as Joshua had defeated and destroyed Jericho and its king, he had also defeated and destroyed Ai and its king. He heard also that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty with Israelites and had become allies.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “King Adoni Zedek of Jerusalem heard-the-news that Josue had-taken- Ai -by-force/seized and he had- completely destroyed this and killed its king just-as he had-done to Jerico and to its king. He also heard-the-news that those from-Gibeon had-made-friends-together with the Israelinhon and they lived/dwelled together.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Later, Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua’s army had captured Ai town and had destroyed everything in the town. He heard that they had done to the people of Ai and to their king the same thing that they had done to the people of Jericho and their king. He also heard that the people of Gibeon city had made a peace treaty with the Israeli people, and that the people of Gibeon were now living near the Israelis and being protected by them.” (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.”
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
Here, semetotte (攻め取って) or “capture” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
The news of Joshua’s victories reaches Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem (for king see 2.2), which at that time was a Jebusite city (Good News Translation footnote).The Hebrew adoni-tsedeq means “my lord (is) Zedek”; the Hebrew word tsedeq itself (as a common noun) means “righteousness.” See Melchizedek, king of Salem (Jerusalem), in Gen 14.18; his name is “my king (is) Zedek” (see Heb 7.1-2). The name “Zedek” appears to be, then, the name of one of the Amorite gods. Again (see 8.2), mention is expressly made of the death of the king of Jericho; this will occur later on in this chapter (see verses 28, 30).
Two translational adjustments may be necessary in order to give this verse maximum readability. (1) A link, showing time relationships, may be established between this chapter and the preceding chapter: “At that time Adonizedek was king of Jerusalem.” (2) The events in this verse may be narrated in a somewhat more chronological order:
• He heard that Joshua had captured and destroyed the cities of Jericho and Ai, and he heard that Joshua had killed the kings of these two cities. He also heard that the people of Gibeon …
Or:
• He heard that Joshua had captured and destroyed the city of Jericho and had killed its king. And he heard that Joshua had done the same thing to the city of Ai and its king. He also heard that the people of Gibeon …
Or:
• Joshua had captured and destroyed the city of Ai just as he had done with the city of Jericho. The city had been burned to the ground, and the king and all the people who lived there had been killed. After that the people of Gibeon had made peace with the Israelites and were living among them. When king Adonizedek of Jerusalem learned of this, 2 all the people of Jerusalem became greatly alarmed …
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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