village

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “village” or “town” in English is translated in Noongar as karlamaya or “fire (used for “home“) + houses” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

In Elhomwe it is typically translated as “place.” “Here in Malawi, villages very small, so changed to ‘places,’ since not sure whether biblical reference just to small villages or also to bigger towns. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Neh. 6:2)

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 translation uses the inclusive pronoun (including the ones who invite and Nehemiah).

complete verse (Nehemiah 6:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Nehemiah 6:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “then Sanballat and Geshem sent to me a message asking me to go and meet them in a place/village located in the plain of Ono. But I knew that they had plotted to do me harm.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore Sanbalat and Geshem sent this message to me: ‘We (excl.) want to meet with you (sing.) in one of the barangays in the plain/valley of Ono.’
    But I knew that they have an evil plan for me.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When that was so, Sanballat and Gesem caused- me -to-come-to-know that we (excl.) were to meet-together in a certain town in the plain at Ono. But they had evil intentions toward me,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “So Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, in which they said ‘Come and talk with us at a place in Ono Plain north of Jerusalem.’ But I knew that really they wanted to harm me if I went there.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Nehemiah 6:2

Revised Standard Version continues the same sentence following the temporal clause in the first verse. Good News Translation, however, makes verse 1 a complete sentence and begins a new sentence at verse 2. Nehemiah records that his two main adversaries Sanballat and Geshem wanted to meet him in an obscure place far from Jerusalem.

Sent to me, saying: Nehemiah says that they sent him a message. He does not indicate whether it was a written message or an oral message. He does not tell how the message was communicated to him, though undoubtedly it was sent with messengers. It is clear, however, that he received a message from Sanballat and Geshem.

Come and let us meet together: The message is presented as a direct quotation. The quotation begins with a second person singular imperative that Nehemiah should Come, followed by a first person plural inclusive imperative let us meet together. Good News Translation restructures this into an indirect quotation following the verb “suggesting.” This softens the tone of the message from a command to an invitation. In some languages translators will need to choose between the style of a formal message implying that the two authorities were treating Nehemiah with respect, or a less formal style implying that they had authority to exercise over him. Here they were trying to lure Nehemiah into a trap and so were not using language that indicated their authority.

One of the villages in the plain of Ono: The plain of Ono is 33 kilometers (20 miles) northwest of Jerusalem at the farthest point from Jerusalem within Judah. Some of those returning from Babylonia had settled there (see Ezra 2.33). It was near the presumed home territory of Sanballat, who may have been from Beth Horon (see Neh 2.10) and would have had friends and relatives there to help him in a plot against Nehemiah.

The literal meaning of the word for villages in Hebrew is “lions.” It is translated “villages” in the Septuagint and Vulgate and many versions have retained this meaning as Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have done. However, it may be a place name and some versions have transliterated the Hebrew word. New Jerusalem Bible has “Ha-Chephirim,” and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and Bible en français courant have “Kefirim.” It would be best to translate the whole phrase simply as “a place in the plain of Ono.”

But they intended to do me harm: But translates the connective conjunction in Hebrew. For they the Hebrew text includes the third person plural masculine pronoun in its independent form in addition to the verb that is also marked for the third person masculine plural. Nehemiah thereby emphasizes the fact that their evil intention was known to him. He read their thoughts and he indicates what they were thinking. Good News Translation interprets their invitation as a “trick.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible says explicitly “They had the thought of causing me harm.” The emphasis of But they needs to be expressed, possibly as “But as far as they were concerned,” “But as a matter of fact they,” or another appropriate cohesive phrase.

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 .