priest

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Greek that are typically translated as “priest” in English (itself deriving from Latin “presbyter” — “elder”) is often translated with a consideration of existing religious traditions. (Click or tap for details)

Bratcher / Nida (1961) say this:

“However, rather than borrow local names for priests, some of which have unwanted connotations, a number of translations have employed descriptive phrases based on certain functions: (1) those describing a ceremonial activity: Pamona uses tadu, the priestess who recites the litanies in which she describes her journey to the upper or under-world to fetch life-spirit for sick people, animals or plants; Batak Toba uses the Arabic malim, ‘Muslim religious teacher;’ ‘one who presents man’s sacrifice to God’ (Bambara, Eastern Maninkakan), ‘one who presents sacrifices’ (Baoulé, Navajo (Dinė)), ‘one who takes the name of the sacrifice’ (Kpelle, and ‘to make a sacrifice go out’ (Hausa); (2) those describing an intermediary function: ‘one who speaks to God’ (Shipibo-Conibo) and ‘spokesman of the people before God’ (Tabasco Chontal).”

In Obolo it is translated as ogwu ngwugwa or “the one who offers sacrifice” (source: Enene Enene), in Mairasi as agam aevar nevwerai: “religious leader” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Ignaciano as “blesser, one who does ritual as a practice” (using a generic term rather than the otherwise common Spanish loan word sacerdote) (source: Willis Ott in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.), and in Noongar as yakin-kooranyi or “holy worker” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

For Guhu-Samane, Ernest Richert (in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. ) reports this: “The [local] cult of Poro used to be an all-encompassing religious system that essentially governed all areas of life. (…) For ‘priest’ the term ‘poro father’ would at first seem to be a natural choice. However, several priests of the old cult are still living. Although they no longer function primarily as priests of the old system they still have a substantial influence on the community, and there would be more than a chance that the unqualified term would (in some contexts particularly) be equated with the priest of the poro cult. We learned, then, that the poro fathers would sometimes be called ‘knife men’ in relation to their sacrificial work. The panel was pleased to apply this term to the Jewish priest, and the Christian community has adopted it fully. [Mark 1:44, for instance, now] reads: ‘You must definitely not tell any man of this. But you go show your body to the knife man and do what Moses said about a sacrifice concerning your being healed, and the cause (base of this) will be apparent.'”

For a revision of the 1968 version of the Bible in Khmer Joseph Hong (in: The Bible Translator 1996, 233ff. ) talks about a change in wording for this term:

​​Bau cha r (បូជា‌ចារ្យ) — The use of this new construction meaning “priest” is maintained to translate the Greek word hiereus. The term “mean sang (មាន សង្ឃ)” used in the old version actually means a “Buddhist monk,” and is felt to be theologically misleading. The Khmer considers the Buddhist monk as a “paddy field of merits,” a reserve of merits to be shared with other people. So a Khmer reader would find unthinkable that the mean sang in the Bible killed animals, the gravest sin for a Buddhist; and what a scandal it would be to say that a mean sang was married, had children, and drank wine.

See also idolatrous priests.

complete verse (Nehemiah 2:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Nehemiah 2:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “The leaders of the city had not yet known that I had gone out, and they had not even known what I was pursuing, because by then I had not yet told anyone about my plans. By then I had not said anything even to the *burner of sacrifices/priest, the nobles/big people or any working person.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The officers of the city did- not -know where I had-gone and what I had-done. For I had not yet told any Jews about my plan, even the priests, leaders/[lit. heads], officers, and the others who are in the administration.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “There-were-no officials who were-aware of my going and what I was doing, because I had not told the priests, leaders, officials and even any Judio who would join-in-working in-the-future.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “The city officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because I had not told anyone about what I planned to do. I had not said anything about it to the Jewish leaders or the officials or the priests or any of the others who would be helping me in the work that I wanted to do.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Nehemiah 2:16

The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing: The repetition of officials in this verse may indicate that the first part of the verse is the conclusion of the preceding verse and it may mean that none of them knew that Nehemiah had gone to inspect the walls. However, this is more generally considered to be a repetition of the intention of Nehemiah in 2.12 to keep his plans secret (see Contemporary English Version). If so, the chronology of events here must be made clear. Nehemiah has now returned inside the city but no officials know about the inspection tour that he has completed. They do not know what his destination was or what his activity was. Therefore, Good News Translation puts the verbs had gone and was doing in the pluperfect: “where I had gone or what I had been doing.”

I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest that were to do the work: Jews may be a separate group (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version) or a general heading with four subdivisions: priests, nobles, officials, and the rest (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). The form of the Hebrew does not indicate that it is a general heading. The term Jews originally referred to the inhabitants of Judah, but after the exile this name took on a more ethnic and religious sense. Sanballat, for instance, was a worshiper of Yahweh who lived in Judah, but he does not include himself in the category of Jew (see Neh 4.1-2; 6.6). If Jews refers to a separate category of people here, it may refer specifically to those who returned from exile in Babylonia.

For priests see the comments at Ezra 1.5. The priests were important leaders with increasing involvement in political administration after the exile because of the dominant role of the Temple in the economy.

The combination of the nobles, the officials, and the rest is also found in Neh 4.14, 19. If these are not subcategories of Jews, they may all be types of leaders. The Hebrew term translated nobles refers to function rather than to nobility. It probably refers to local leaders (see 1 Kgs 21.8, where Good News Translation renders it “leading citizens”).

For officials see the comments at Ezra 9.2, where Revised Standard Version renders it “chief men.” The exact divisions and functions of the groups that are listed cannot be indicated with certainty. The first occurrence of this term in the verse may simply be a general word for leaders translated “local officials” in Good News Translation (see also Neh 4.14). In some cultures expressions like “heavy people” and “big people” may be used for these general categories of leaders.

The rest that were to do the work may refer to other leaders (Nouvelle version Segond révisée), to “the rest of the administration” (Williamson 1985), only to those who will do the work (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), or to all other Jews who were to be involved in the work along with those already mentioned (Good News Translation, New International Version, Contemporary English Version). The phrase, that were to do the work, does not necessarily refer only to the rest but may include everyone mentioned in the verse. Good News Translation makes this explicit by saying “anyone else who would be taking part in the work.” This is the first reference in the book to the work that Nehemiah intends to do (see verse 18 below). The repetition of this word throughout the remainder of the book and allusions to it make it one of the theme words in the book of Nehemiah (see “Translating Ezra and Nehemiah,” page 20).

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .