וַיַּ֗רְא פִּֽינְחָס֙ בֶּן־אֶלְעָזָ֔ר בֶּֽן־אַהֲרֹ֖ן הַכֹּהֵ֑ן וַיָּ֨קָם֙ מִתּ֣וֹךְ הָֽעֵדָ֔ה וַיִּקַּ֥ח רֹ֖מַח בְּיָדֽוֹ׃
7When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up and left the congregation. Taking a spear in his hand,
“Son of x, son of y” must be rendered as “son of x and grandson of y” in Tibetan or else it will sound like two different people.
Note: The same translation solution is chosen in many contemporary English Bibles that emphasize easy readability, such as the Contemporary English Version, Common English Bible, Good News Translation, God’s Word, or New Living Translation.
See also father / grandfather.
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.
The name that is transliterated as “Aaron” in English is translated in Catalan Sign Language and Spanish Sign Language as “stones on chest plate” (according to Exodus 28:15-30) (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )
“Aaron” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España
In Colombian Sign Language, Honduras Sign Language, and American Sign Language, the chest plate is outlined (in ASL it is outlined using the letter “A”):
“Aaron” in ASL (source )
For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .
See also Moses, more information on Aaron , and this lectionary in The Christian Century .
When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it: Phinehas saw the Israelite man going into his tent with the Midianite woman. Phinehas was actually the “grandson” (Good News Bible) of Aaron (see Exo 6.25). For Aaron the priest, see the comments on 3.6. Contemporary English Version makes it clear what Phinehas saw by rendering saw it as “saw the couple,” which other languages may find helpful.
He rose and left the congregation: Here the verb rose marks the beginning of an immediate action (see the comments on 16.25), so this clause may be rendered “he immediately left the community.” For the Hebrew word rendered congregation (ʿedah), see the previous verse.
And took a spear in his hand: Many languages prefer a new sentence here (so Good News Bible). A spear was a long, straight rod with a sharp end used for piercing by thrusting. Its circumference was less than the grip of a man’s hand, and its length varied from the height of a man to much longer. It was normally made of wood with a metal head or point. In battle the spear was held in the middle and thrust at the enemy. Only rarely was it thrown. Where possible, translators should choose a word or phrase that indicates that this weapon was held and thrust (much like a knife on the end of a stick) rather than thrown. The phrase in his hand may be left implied (so Good News Bible).
Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it: Phinehas saw the Israelite man going into his tent with the Midianite woman. Phinehas was actually the “grandson” (Good News Bible) of Aaron (see Exo 6.25). For Aaron the priest, see the comments on 3.6. Contemporary English Version makes it clear what Phinehas saw by rendering saw it as “saw the couple,” which other languages may find helpful.
He rose and left the congregation: Here the verb rose marks the beginning of an immediate action (see the comments on 16.25), so this clause may be rendered “he immediately left the community.” For the Hebrew word rendered congregation (ʿedah), see the previous verse.
And took a spear in his hand: Many languages prefer a new sentence here (so Good News Bible). A spear was a long, straight rod with a sharp end used for piercing by thrusting. Its circumference was less than the grip of a man’s hand, and its length varied from the height of a man to much longer. It was normally made of wood with a metal head or point. In battle the spear was held in the middle and thrust at the enemy. Only rarely was it thrown. Where possible, translators should choose a word or phrase that indicates that this weapon was held and thrust (much like a knife on the end of a stick) rather than thrown. The phrase in his hand may be left implied (so Good News Bible).
Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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