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 (Numbers 32:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 32:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “they went to Moses and Eleazar and the leaders and said,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Going to Moses, Eleazar the priest and leaders of the community, they said,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “they went to Moises, Eleazar, and to the leaders/[lit. heads] of the community of Israel and said,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So their leaders came to Eleazar and the other leaders of the people and Moses/me. They said,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 32:2

So the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben …: So renders well the Hebrew waw conjunction (literally “And”) since it introduces a result here. The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben presumably refers to the tribal representatives of the Gadites and Reubenites, so Chewa says “the leaders of Gad and Reuben.” The repetition of the names Gad and Reuben from verse 1 creates a certain emphasis in the Hebrew; these two tribes in the dialogue of confrontation with Moses and the other leaders of Israel are in focus throughout most of the chapter. Unlike in verse 1, the sons of Gad are mentioned before the sons of Reuben in the rest of this chapter. Perhaps these phrases are reversed here because verse 3 first mentions cities for the Gadites, as is clear from verses 34-36; or perhaps they were the primary initiators of the request in verses 3-4. There seems to be no reason to put the sons of Reuben before the sons of Gad, as in the Septuagint and the Peshitta. In some languages the pronoun “they” (Good News Translation) may be sufficient and more natural to render these two phrases.

Came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation: In some languages it may be more natural to connect the phrase to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation directly to the first verb came (so Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) instead of to the second verb said. It may then also be more natural to start a new sentence with the second verb (so New Living Translation, Parole de Vie, Bijbel in Gewone Taal). Came may be rendered “went” (Good News Translation) or “approached.” For Eleazar the priest, see 26.1. The Hebrew expression for the leaders of the congregation is better rendered “the chiefs of the community” (Revised English Bible; see the comments on 4.34).

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 .