The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “chief priest” in English is translated in Muyuw as tanuwgwes lun or “ruler-of peace offering.” (Source: David Lithgow in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 118ff. )
The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the DanishBibelen 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 Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).
The Greek that is usually translated as “scribe” in English “were more than mere writers of the law. They were the trained interpreters of the law and expounders of tradition.”
Tboli: “one who taught the law God before caused Moses to write” (or “one who taught the law of Moses”) (source for this and 5 above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Noongar: Mammarapa-Warrinyang or “law man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Mairasi: “one who writes and explains Great Above One’s (=God’s) prohibitions” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Chichewa: “teacher of Laws” (source: Ernst Wendland)
Lalana Chinantec: “one who is a teacher of the law which God gave to Moses back then”
Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “one who know well the law” (Source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Huixtán Tzotzil: “one who mistakenly thought he was teaching God’s commandments”(Huixtán Tzotzil frequently uses the verb -cuy to express “to mistakenly think something” from the point of view of the speaker; source: Marion M. Cowan in Notes on Translation 20/1966, pp. 6ff.)
Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “theologian” and in the 1964 translation by Helmut Riethmüller: “theologian of scriptures” (Schrifttheologe)
English translation by Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023): Covenant Code scholar
In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “expert” and “law.” (Source: Anna Smith)
“Scribe” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL , used with permission)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 22:66:
Noongar: “When the sun rose, the elders and Chief Priests and Law Men, they came together and they brought Jesus before the Council.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “When it got light, all the leading priests and the religion teachers with the other Yahudi leaders gathered, and Yesus was brought before them.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “When it was morning the elders and the leading priests and the teachers of the religious law gathered. They were the council that judged. Isa was brought before them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when morning came, all the elders of the Jews and the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, gathered together and they brought Jesus before them.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Upon its getting light, Jesus was led to the place of the gathered elders of the Jews and leaders of the priests and teachers of the law.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “At dawn, all assembled who were members of the Sanedrin, who were the important tribal-leaders, the chiefs of the priests and the explainers of law. And they caused Jesus to be brought before their assembly.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 22:66-71:
At dawn the politicians, priests, and professors of religion
called a meeting and had Jesus brought in for questioning.
“Are you God’s Chosen One?” they demanded.
“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me,” replied Jesus.
“And if I asked you a question, you wouldn’t answer.
Soon, however, you’ll see me
at the right side of God All-Powerful.”
“Are you the Son of God?” was their next question.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
hōs egeneto hēmera ‘when day came.’ In this phrase hēmera means ‘daylight,’ ‘dawn,’ cf. 6.13; Acts 27.29.
sunēchthe to presbuterion tou laou, archiereis te kai grammateis ‘the council/elders of the people met, the chief priests and the experts in the law.’ The clause may be interpreted in two ways: (1) archiereis te kai grammateis indicate of what kind of members the council was composed (cf. Phillips, Translator’s New Testament, Revised Standard Version); (2) to presbuterion is used here in the concrete sense of hoi presbuteroi ‘the elders’ (cf. New English Bible), preferably the latter. presbuterion.
sunagō ‘to bring together,’ here in the passive with reflexive meaning, ‘to meet,’ ‘to assemble,’ ‘to gather.’
apēgagon auton eis to sunedrion autōn lit. ‘they brought him before their council,’ but in view of the context here best understood as ‘they had him brought before their council.’ apagō is used here in a judicial sense.
sunedrion ‘high council,’ ‘Sanhedrin,’ highest religious and civil body among the Jews.
Translation:
When day came, see on “when it was day” in 4.42.
The assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes, preferably, ‘the elders of the people, chief priests, and scribes came together,’ mentioning some of the officials found also in vv. 2 and 52. For the people, here referring to the Jewish nation, see on 1.17.
Their council, i.e. the council formed by them, or, of which they were members. For council cf. ‘place for speech-making/discussion’ (Ekari), ‘great assembly’ (Tae’), or more juridically, ‘(high) tribunal’ (Sranan Tongo, Bible de Jérusalem, Javanese), ‘assembly of their Judgment-court’ (Marathi).
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.
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