30Their territory extended from Mahanaim, through all Bashan, the whole kingdom of King Og of Bashan, and all the settlements of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty towns,
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 13:30:
Kupsabiny: “Their land began from Mahanaim and took Bashan and the cities which Og ruled. It included the sixty villages of Jair in Bashan.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Their boundary was like this — from Mahaniam up to Bashan, all the land formerly ruled by Og king of Bashan, all sixty of the villages of Jair in Bashan,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “From Mahanaim up-to the whole/entire of Bashan, the entire/whole kingdom of King Og of Bashan, and the 60 towns/cities of Jair which are-under-the-jurisdiction of Bashan.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Their land extended north from Mahanaim city. It included all the Bashan region, all the land that King Og had ruled, and all the towns in the Jair area in Bashan. Altogether that area included 60 towns.” (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.”
Mahanaim is at the southern border of East Manasseh, where its territory touched that of Gad (verse 26). For Og, the king of Bashan see 12.4-5 (also 9.10).
In Numbers 32.41 Jair is identified as “the son of Manasseh” (Revised Standard Version; see other references to him in Deut 3.14; 1 Kgs 4.13); Good News Translation has taken the Hebrew word generally rendered “son” to mean “descendant” and not “son,” because in the lists of the descendants of Manasseh, the only son named is Machir (see Gen 50.23; Num 26.29; Josh 17.1).
Verses 29-30 may be translated:
• 29 Moses had given to the families of the half tribe of Manasseh 30 the land which extended north from the city of Mahanaim. This included all of Bashan, together with the sixty villages that Jair had once conquered in that region. King Og of Bashan had once ruled over all of this territory.
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 .
The territory from Mahanaim: The town of Mahanaim was on the south border of the tribes of Gad and Manasseh. Its exact location is uncertain. The town of Mahanaim was mentioned in 13:26 and you should translate it the same way in both places.
Here is another way to translate this phrase:
their land extended north from the town of Mahanaim
13:30b
through all Bashan—all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan: The phrase through all Bashan contains the same information as the next phrase, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan.
Here is another way to translate this clause:
it included the country of Bashan, which was ruled by King Og
Bashan: The term Bashan indicates a country or a region that was on a high and fertile plateau north of Gilead. The country of Bashan was mentioned in Joshua 9:10 and you should translate it the same way in both places.
13:30c
including all the towns of Jair that are in Bashan: The phrase all the towns of Jair that are in Bashan indicates that the towns that Jair captured were included in the territory of Manasseh. Jair was a descendant of Manasseh. The story of how he captured these towns is found in Numbers 32:41.
sixty cities: In some languages it may be more natural to include the words sixty cities as part of the preceding phrase. For example:
It included all the sixty cities which Jair, ⌊a descendant of Manasseh,⌋ captured in Bashan
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.