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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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 (tsukawashite)

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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, tsukawashite (遣わして) or “send” 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. )

Translation commentary on Nehemiah 2:6

Why is there a reference to the queen sitting beside the king? It probably indicates that this meeting was a private one between the king and Nehemiah since women were not ordinarily present at public banquets, although there is an exception in Dan 5.2. In fact, it may not have been the queen but a favored member of the king’s harem since the Hebrew word used here usually refers to a concubine, that is, a woman holding lower status than a wife of the king (see also Jdg 5.30; Psa 45.9 [10 in Hebrew]; Dan 5.2-3, 23). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh therefore translates it as “consort” and Revised English Bible as “queen consort.” Greek historians report that women had a strong influence during the reign of Artaxerxes. It may have been that Nehemiah had used the influence of this person to gain a favorable response from the king. However, in this context and in conformity with most versions, translators should use an equivalent to queen or “empress” and not “concubine.” Revised Standard Version encloses this information in parentheses as though it is an editorial comment, but most versions do not set it apart in this way.

The king answered Nehemiah with two questions: How long will you be gone, and when will you return? It seems that the king approved Nehemiah’s request before he answered the question. This was so understood by Nehemiah in the following statement: So it pleased the king to send me. Nehemiah observes that it was good in the king’s eyes to send him. Nouvelle version Segond révisée translates “It pleased the king to let me go,” while Traduction œcuménique de la Bible says “It seemed good to the king to send me.” The reason it pleased the king may have been the fact that Egypt was in the process of rebelling against Artaxerxes and he needed a loyal, fortified city in the western part of the empire to defend against possible attacks from that direction.

I set him a time is Nehemiah’s response to the king’s questions; that is, Nehemiah said how long he would be gone. Contemporary English Version restructures this to read “I told him when I would return.” In some languages there are idiomatic expressions for indicating time; for example, “I cut the time when I would come back” or “I marked the time.” The time is not given here. Later in 5.14 Nehemiah states that he was governor of Judah for twelve years, but at this time he probably did not anticipate that he would stay that long.

Good News Translation restructures the verse to present the sequence of events in chronological order, and translators may need to do likewise.

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 .