16“Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and honor when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him as his actions deserved—
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Judges 9:16:
Kupsabiny: “Jotham said to those people, ‘Do you think you did well when you chose Abimelech to be your king? Did you honor Gideon when you destroyed his house/family?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Then Jotham said — Look now! By making Abimelech king, What! Have you really done the right thing? What! Have you dealt justly [lit.: correctly] with Jerub-baal and his family? And have you dealt with him as you ought to have done?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Then Jotam said, ‘Is it right and just your (plur.) making Abimelec king? Is it right what you (plur.) did to Gideon my father and to his family? And is it also fitting to his deeds?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘After Jotham finished telling them this parable, he said, ‘So now I ask you, were you being completely honest and sincere when you appointed Abimelech to be your king ? And have you treated Gideon and his family fairly? Have you rewarded Gideon by honoring him as he deserved because of all the good things he did for you? No!” (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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Jotham’s fable ends in the previous verse, and here he begins to explain its meaning to the people of Shechem. In most languages it will be appropriate to indicate this. Good News Translation adds “Jotham continued,” and Revised English Bible begins with “Jotham said.” Contemporary English Version provides a fuller introduction by saying “After Jotham had finished telling this story, he said.” This model adds no new information to the story, but helps the readers understand what is happening. Formatting may also help them.
Now, therefore is literally “And now.” Jotham begins his explanation of the fable with these words. Translators should find an expression that can introduce the meaning of a fable or parable. Some languages may say “And so.” Many versions use “Now then” (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).
If you acted in good faith and honor (literally “if in truth and in integrity you acted”) is the first of three conditional clauses in this verse. The pronoun you refers to the people of Shechem. Acted renders the general Hebrew verb meaning “do” or “make.” Here it refers to the people’s making Abimelech king. For in good faith, see verse 9.15. The Hebrew word for honor refers to completeness or even perfection. Good faith and honor refer to the same thing, so they may be combined. We might say “if you people of Shechem were really sincere and honest.”
When you made Abimelech king: Made … king renders the Hebrew verb malak. As noted earlier, the name Abimelech means “my father is king,” so there is an important wordplay here, with the Hebrew saying literally “and you made king My-father-is-king.”
And if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house is literally “and if good you have done with Jerubbaal and with his house.” This conditional clause parallels the previous one. Well renders the same Hebrew word (tovah) translated “good” in verse 8.35. Revised English Bible says “the right thing.” Jerubbaal is the name used for Gideon throughout this passage (see comments on verse 9.1). His house refers to his family, including all his sons and daughters. We may say “his household” (Revised English Bible) or “his family” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version). Translators may find that they need two different verbs to go with the objects Jerubbaal and his house. For example, Good News Translation renders this clause as “Did you respect Gideon’s memory and treat his family properly?” However, in most languages one verb will suffice: “if you have dealt honourably with Jerubbaal and his family” (New Jerusalem Bible).
And have done to him as his deeds deserved is literally “and if according to the dealing of his hands you have done to him.” Revised Standard Version omits the conjunction “if,” but in many languages it will have to be kept. The Hebrew phrase for “according to the dealing of his hands” comes right after this conjunction, but Revised Standard Version places it at the end of this clause, saying as his deeds deserved. The keyword “hand” appears once again, “his hands” representing Gideon. Translators should look for a natural way to express this whole phrase: “as he deserved” (New American Bible) or “as his actions deserved” (Good News Translation). We might say “and if you treated him as he deserved.”
Though there are three conditional clauses here in Hebrew, Revised English Bible expresses each one as a rhetorical question as follows: “Now have you acted fairly and honourably in making Abimelech king? Have you done the right thing by Jerubbaal and his household? Have you given my father his proper due…?” (similarly Good News Translation). Using these questions helps to show that the people did not do as they should have, since the implied answer is No. Contemporary English Version makes this clear by saying “Did you reward Gideon by being kind to his family? No, you did not!” Whether conditional clauses or rhetorical questions are used, the important thing is to make it clear that Jotham is accusing the people of Shechem of not doing these things.
Translation models for this verse are:
• “So, if you have acted in complete good faith when you made Abimelech king, and if you have done the right thing toward Jerubbaal and his family, and if you have honored Jerubbaal for the good he did to you….
• Jotham continued, “Were you really sincere when you made Abimelech your king? Did you respect Gideon and his family as you should have, considering all he did for you?
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 .
9:16a Now if you have acted faithfully and honestly in making Abimelech king,
Now then, when you made Abimelek king was it fair and sincere ⌊to my father Gideon⌋ ?
-or-
⌊Then Jotham continued,⌋ “You have made Abimelech be your king. What you did was wrong.
9:16b if you have done well by Jerubbaal and his family,
Have you done well towards him and his family?
-or-
You have not behaved well towards Gideon and his family.
9:16c and if you have done to him as he deserves—
Did you treat him as he deserved?
-or-
You did not repay him justly for what he did for you.
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