elder (of the community)

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the Danish Bibelen 2020 as folkets ledere or “leaders of the people.”

Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators, explains: “The term ‘elder’ turned out to pose a particularly thorny problem. In traditional bibles, you can find elders all of over the place and they never pose a problem for a translator, they are just always elders. But how to find a contemporary term for this semi-official, complex position? This may have been our longest-standing problem. A couple of times we thought we had the solution, and then implemented it throughout the texts, only to find out that it didn’t work. Like when we used city council or village council, depending on the context. In the end we felt that the texts didn’t work with such official terms, and throughout the years in the desert, these terms didn’t make much sense. Other suggestions were ‘the eldest and wisest’, ‘the respected citizens’, ‘the Israelites with a certain position in society’, ‘the elder council’ –- and let me point out that these terms sound better in Danish than in English (‘de fremtrædende borgere,’ ‘de mest fremtrædende israelitter,’ ‘alle israelitter med en vis position,’ ‘de ældste og de klogeste,’ ‘ældsterådet’). In the end we just said ‘leaders of the people.’ After a lot of hand-wringing, it turned out that we actually found a term that worked well. So, we had to give up conveying the fact that they were old, but the most important point is that they were community leaders.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )

The German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Judg 21:16)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai translation uses the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

Translation commentary on Judges 21:16

Then the elders of the congregation said: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered Then introduces the next action or the result of the Israelites’ feelings of pity, thus it may be translated “So” (Good News Translation). The elders of the congregation were the leaders of the Israelites who had gathered at Bethel. For elders see verse 2.7, and for congregation, see verse 21.10. The general verb said may be rendered “asked” (New Living Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), since it introduces a question.

What shall we do for wives for those who are left…?: See verse 21.7. When the Israelites first attempted to find wives for the 600 surviving Benjaminite men, they found only 400. They now think about how they might find an additional 200 young women. If possible, the same wording should be used here as in verse 21.7.

Since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin: This is a new piece of information that has been assumed but not made explicit. Apparently, during the battles most of the Benjaminite women were also killed. The Hebrew says literally “for she is destroyed from Benjamin the woman.” The singular word “woman” has a collective sense here, so it is correctly rendered women, referring to the older or married Benjaminite women who were killed. The Hebrew verb rendered are destroyed is a very strong word meaning “exterminate” or “annihilate.” The passive form are destroyed is used purposely, and if possible, it should be maintained. The Israelites themselves were responsible for this state of affairs, but they do not want to claim responsibility. If passive forms do not exist, an impersonal form may be substituted, for example, “since they killed all the women in the tribe of Benjamin.” Other possible models are “since there are no more Benjaminite women left” and “since all the Benjaminite women have been killed.”

In Hebrew this quote of the Israelite leaders is marked by important sound effects, including repetitions of the consonants m, n, and sh, as well as alternations of the vowels a and i. This seems yet another stylistic device used by the narrator to mock the Israelites for their “compassion” for their brothers and their attempts to “right” their wrongs. In most languages it will be impossible to imitate this style, but translators could try to express the irony here. In some languages an interjection such as “Oh!” “Oh, no!” or “How sad!” might show that the narrator is not entirely convinced of the good intentions of those speaking.

Translation models for this verse are:

• Then the leaders of the Israelites asked what they could do to find more wives for the remaining Benjaminite men since [pity!] there were no more Benjaminite women left.

• Then the Israelite leaders said, “Oh no! Where can we find wives for the remaining Benjaminite men since all their women have been killed?”

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .