inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Judg 9:8)

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 and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding the olive tree.

complete verse (Judges 9:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Judges 9:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “It happened one day that trees went to choose a king. Then the olive tree was told, ‘Rule us.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “One day the trees gathered
    to choose a king for the trees.
    They said to the olive tree,
    ‘[You] be our king.’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I will-tell you (plur.) a story about the trees that looked-for-someone to rule-over them. They said to the olive tree, ‘You (plur.) are-the-one-who is-to-rule-over us (incl.).’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “One day the trees decided to appoint a king to rule over all of them. So they said to the olive tree, ‘You be our king!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

king

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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:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • 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.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

Japanese benefactives (natte)

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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, natte (なって) or “become” 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. )

olive

The olive family has over four hundred species in the world. Many of them grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but it is the one in the Bible, the European Olive Olea europaea, that has become famous. It is likely that the olive was domesticated in Egypt or the eastern Mediterranean basin in the third millennium B.C. The botanist Newberry argued that Egypt was its original home. We know from the Bible that olives grew in the hills of Samaria and in the foothills. There is a wild variety, called Olea europaea sylvestris, that is smaller than the domestic one; it produces a smaller fruit with less oil. The Apostle Paul refers to this wild variety in Romans 11:17 and 11:24. Olives are easily propagated by cuttings and by grafting fruitful species into less fruitful ones. They grow best on hillsides where the rain drains off quickly. The fruit forms by August but does not ripen until December or January.

The olive is not a big tree, reaching up to perhaps 10 meters (33 feet), but with pruning it is usually kept to around 5 meters (17 feet) tall. The leaves are grayish green above, and whitish underneath. The bark of young trees is silvery gray but gets darker and rougher as the tree ages. The trunk also gets twisted and hollow and may reach over a meter in thickness. Olives grow for hundreds of years, and some in Israel have possibly reached two thousand years.

The fruit of the olive is about 2 centimeters (1 inch) long and a bit more than a centimeter (1/2 inch) thick. It has a hard stone inside and a soft skin that covers the oily flesh. Today a mature tree may yield 10-20 kilograms (22-44 pounds) of fruit, which, when processed, will yield 1.3-2.6 kilograms (3.6 pounds) of oil.

For the Jews the “big three” trees were the vine, the fig, and the olive. People ate olive fruits, but more importantly, they squeezed the oil from the fruits, and used it for cooking, for lamps, for rubbing on the body, for medicine, and in religion. Jacob poured olive oil on the stone where he saw a vision of angels, declaring it a holy place (Genesis 28:18). Moses, similarly, anointed the Tabernacle and its equipment with olive oil mixed with sweet-smelling resins (Exodus 40:9). Aaron and the priests who served in the Tabernacle were also anointed (Exodus 29:21).

Some types of wild olive grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but are not well-known. The so-called “African olive” produces a black, oil-bearing fruit much like an olive. It is common as a snack in northern Nigeria. The “Chinese olive” is also a species of Canarium and may be a possible cultural substitute, if it produces edible fruit and oil. The “Russian olive” grown in dry regions of the world is a member of the Elaeagnus family and not a true olive. A variety of olive (Olea cuspidate) is used for building in India and Nepal, but it is probably not possible to use it in the Bible except perhaps in a study Bible where you could say that the biblical olive was related to this tree.

Since most of the kinds of olive trees in the world do not have edible fruit, it may not be possible to substitute a local variety. If it is done, however, a footnote would be required saying that the Palestinian kind produced edible fruit and oil. If a variety of Canarium is eaten in your area, you could use the local name for it. Otherwise transliterate from a major language.

Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

Translation commentary on Judges 9:8

Good News Translation and Revised English Bible introduce this fable with the words “Once upon a time.” In English this is a marker for a fairy tale and is quite appropriate. Translators could use similar introductory expressions from their language. Other possible introductory expressions are “One day” (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible) and “Once” (Contemporary English Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

The trees once went forth …: The trees in this fable act like humans. The idea that trees could move about and that they could speak is, of course, a feature of a fable, a literary genre in many languages. The Hebrew word for trees is a generic one, referring to all trees. Went forth renders an emphatic Hebrew expression, which is literally “going they went.” It uses the Hebrew verb meaning “go” twice, first as an infinitive and then as a finite verb (compare verse 8.25, where the verb for “give” is repeated). Went forth may be rendered “decided together to go,” as a way of showing the trees’ determination.

To anoint a king over them: This is a purpose clause indicating the trees’ intention, which is to appoint a king for themselves. The Hebrew verb rendered anoint (mashach) is a key term in this passage and in many other parts of the Old Testament, describing a part of the ritual of setting apart a king or a priest. It refers specifically to putting olive oil on a person’s head to consecrate him. It is the root behind the Hebrew word meaning “messiah” or “chosen one.” Here its use is certainly ironic. People hearing this fable would either be laughing or shaking their heads in disbelief. Many languages will not have a word for anoint, so another expression will have to be used. It is the setting apart of the king rather than the actual pouring out of oil that seems most important here, thus Good News Translation uses the verb “choose.” Other possible verbs are “set up” and “establish.” However, such renderings remove some of the irony present here. King renders the same Hebrew word melek used in verse 9.6 and translators should use the same word as is used throughout the Old Testament texts. The pronoun them refers to the trees. In some languages kings are not over people, so translators may have to use other expressions for this whole clause, for example, “to appoint someone to be their king” or “to make someone their king.”

And they said to the olive tree: And renders the Hebrew waw conjunction, but a better connector here would be “So” (New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible), which is a particularly appropriate conjunction in English for folktales or fables. The pronoun they refers to the trees. The olive tree is one of the most productive and useful trees in Israel. Its fruit can be eaten and its oil used for cooking, dressing wounds, and softening the skin. In Israel this oil also played an important role in rituals, especially in the preparation of some sacrifices and in the anointing of kings (verse 1 Sam 10.1; verse 16.13). Also the olive tree lives longer than most trees. In many books of the Old Testament, especially in poetic passages, olive trees and olive oil represent prosperity, fertility, and well-being. Thus, in this story, the trees turn first to this very important tree to become their leader or king. If the olive tree is unknown, a longer expression will have to be used, for example, “tree that produces the fruit called ‘olivi.’ ” However, since this is a fable, the shortest possible form should be used. The word olive is needed throughout the Bible (see, for example, Gen 8.11; Exo 23.11; Matt 21.1; verse 24.3; Rom 11.17, 24), so in most translations the word is transliterated and explained in the glossary.

Reign over us: The Hebrew verb rendered Reign (malak) comes from the same root as the noun for king. This verb is not the same one used previously when the Israelites asked Gideon to rule over them (verse 8.22). Good models for this clause are “Be our king” (New International Version) and “Will you be our king?” (Contemporary English Version).

Translation models for this verse are:

• One day the trees of the forest decided to choose someone as king. So they said to Olive Tree, ‘Please be our king!’

• Once upon a time the trees set out to appoint a king for themselves. So they found the Olive Tree and said, ‘Will you be our king?’

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 .