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).

See also elders of Israel (Judah).

complete verse (Lamentations 5:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Lamentations 5:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “The enemies have caught the leaders and tied the hands to make them swing
    and they do not respect our elders.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Rulers are hanged by their hands.
    Elders are given no respect whatever.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Our leaders were-hung-up by [their] hands, and our old-ones have not been respected.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Our enemies have hanged our leaders,
    and they do not respect our elders.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Lamentations 5:12

In this verse the poet turns his attention to Princes and elders, respected people who are now disgraced by the invaders.

Princes translates the same word used in 1.6. See there for comments. Hung up by their hands is ambiguous, since by their hands can mean “the hands of the enemies hung them” or that the enemies hung the princes by tying their hands above their heads as a form of torture. The latter seems to be the interpretation of Revised Standard Version. Good News Translation “Our leaders have been taken and hanged” follows the first thought. From the information available there is no way to decide between these interpretations, and so either may be used. If the translator follows Good News Translation, it may be necessary to shift to the active; for example, “The enemy has hanged our leaders.”

In language areas where hanging is unknown, it is often necessary to specify the manner and purpose. For example, “The enemy has put our leaders to death by hanging them with ropes around their necks.”

No respect is shown to the elders is literally “The faces of the elders were not honored.” “Faces of the elders” is an idiom and means “the elders” and not just their faces. As in the first half of the verse, those who fail to respect or honor these people are the enemies of Jerusalem. For a discussion of elders see 1.19; 2.10. Although Good News Translation and some others take elders to mean “old men,” in the light of 1.19 and 2.10 it is possible to understand both Princes and elders as representing one body of rulers or leaders. If the enemy has been made the subject in the first half of the verse, the same subject can serve in the second half, often without repeating the subject; for example, “The enemy has hanged our leaders and shown them no respect.” If, however, the translator wishes to retain the poetic form of parallelism, it may be best to show the subject in both parts.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on Lamentations. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Lamentations 5:12

5:12a Princes have been hung up by their hands;

Our leaders were hung by our enemies.
-or-
The enemies killed our leaders and hung them up.

5:12b elders receive no respect.

The enemies did not honor our elders.
-or-
They disgraced our elders.

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