high priest

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “high priest” in English is translated in the following ways:

  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “the ruler of the priests of our nation”
  • Chol: “very great priest” (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Ayutla Mixtec: “first over the priests”
  • Desano: “chief of the priests” (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.).
  • Uma: “Big Priest” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “high sacrificer” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa as “Most-important Priest of God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “Big leader of offerings” (source: Bariai Back Translation)

In Khoekhoe the translation for “high priest” is only capitalized when it refers to Jesus (as is Hebrews 2:17 et al.). (Source: project-specific notes in Paratext)

See also priest and chief priest.

complete verse (Joshua 20:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 20:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “That person must stay in that city until the day reaches when he can be charged in court so as to be judged. And if it is clear that he is innocent, he must stay in the city until the big priest has died. Then that person is allowed to return to his home.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “And until he stands trial before the assembly and until the time of the death of the high priest who is serving at that time he must continue to stay in that city. After that he may go back to his own home in the city from which he escaped."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He will-stay in that city until his case is-heard/reviewed before/[lit. in front-of] the assembly/community, and until the head priest who serves at that time dies. Then he can- now -go-home to their (home).’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But the person who killed someone must stay in that city until the city judges put him on trial. Only if the judges decide that the person who has run/escaped to their city did not deliberately kill the other person will they allow him to stay in that city, and he must stay there until the Supreme Priest dies. Then he may safely go back to his own town, because the death of the Supreme Priest will be considered to atone/pay for the death of the person who was killed.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 20:6

Two matters are joined which appear to be separate: (1) the accused will be given a public trial; if found guilty, he is to be turned over to the avenging relative of the dead man (see Num 35.19); (2) if found innocent, he remains in the city until the death of the ruling High Priest (see Num 35.25, 28). After the High Priest’s death he is allowed to go back home.

Until he has received a public trial may need to be translated more specifically as “until he has been proven innocent in a public trial.” Inasmuch as two separate matters are here spoken of (see above comments), one may wish to begin a new sentence with the clause which begins and until: “Then he must remain in the city until the man who is High Priest at that time has died.”

Go back home translates “go again to his own town and his own home” (Revised Standard Version) of the Hebrew text. If both expressions are retained, they may be inverted: “to his family and to his own home town.” It may not be necessary to render explicitly the clause from which he had run away, since this information is clearly implicit.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 20:6

20:6a

The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible leaves untranslated but some English versions translate as “and” can also be translated as “but.” Choose the connecting words that are most natural in your language. Some English versions do not translation this conjunction.

He is to stay in that city: The Hebrew clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He is to stay in that city can also be translated “he must live in that town.”

until he stands trial before the assembly: The clause until he stands trial before the assembly indicates that there will be a trial for the person who was accused of killing someone. The trial will be conducted by the assembly which was composed of all the adult males of the town.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

But he must live in that town until his trial before the assembly.
-or-
He should stay in that town until the people gather and judge his case.

20:6b

until the death of the high priest serving at that time: There is implicit information in this part of the verse. First the congregation must decide that the person who killed someone was innocent of murder. If they decided he was innocent he could stay in the town of refuge until the high priest died. It may be clearer in some languages to include this implicit information.

high priest: The high priest was the leader of all the priests. The priests offered sacrifices on behalf of the people, but the high priest offered certain sacrifices that no other priest could offer. He represented the Israelite people to God.

If you have translated the gospels you should translate high priest the same way you did there. See for example John 18:19.

Here are some other ways to translate the term high priest:

the chief/leader of all the priests
-or-
the main/principal priest
-or-
the highest/leading priest

at that time: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as at that time is more literally “in those days.” The high priest continued his duties until he died or could not carry them out. Then a new person was chosen.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

⌊If he is innocent⌋ he must continue to stay there until the high priest of that time has died.
-or-

⌊After he is judged to be not guilty⌋ he should live there until the chief priest in those days has died.

20:6c

Then the manslayer may return to his own home: This clause indicates that the person who killed unintentionally could then return to his home.

in the city from which he fled: the city from which he fled is the same town as is indicated in the phrase “to his own home.” In some languages it may be clearer to combine these two phrases. For example:

to his own home in the town from which he fled

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

Then the person who killed unintentionally may return to his own house in his town.
-or-
After that the person may go back to his home in the town that he ran away from.

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