swear / vow

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “swear (an oath)” or “vow” in English is otherwise translated as:

  • “God sees me, I tell the truth to you” (Tzeltal)
  • “loading yourself down” (Huichol)
  • “speak-stay” (implying permanence of the utterance) (Sayula Popoluca)
  • “say what could not be taken away” (San Blas Kuna)
  • “because of the tight (i.e. ‘binding’) word said to a face” (Guerrero Amuzgo)
  • “strong promise” (North Alaskan Inupiatun) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • “eat an oath” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • “drink an oath” (Jju) (source: McKinney 2018, p. 31).
  • “cut taboos” (Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)

In Bauzi “swear” can be translated in various ways. In Hebrews 6:13, for instance, it is translated with “bones break apart and decisively speak.” (“No bones are literally broken but by saying ‘break bones’ it is like people swear by someone else in this case it is in relation to a rotting corpse’ bones falling apart. If you ‘break bones’ so to speak when you make an utterance, it is a true utterance.”) In other passages, such as in Matthew 26:72, it’s translated with an expression that implies taking ashes (“if a person wants everyone to know that he is telling the truth about a matter, he reaches down into the fireplace, scoops up some ashes and throws them while saying ‘I was not the one who did that.'”). So in Matthew 26:72 the Bauzi text is: “. . . Peter took ashes and defended himself saying, ‘I don’t know that Nazareth person.'” (Source: David Briley)

See also swear (promise) and Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’, or ‘No, No’.

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 5:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 5:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then the priest shall make the woman agree with this oath saying to (her), ‘If a man has not slept with you, this ceremonial water shall not do anything to you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then, causing that woman to swear an oath, [he] must speak like this, ‘If you have not slept with any other man, you have not made yourself impure while under your husband’s authority, this bitter water won’t do anything to you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “and then he will-cause the woman -to-swear if she committed-adultery or not, and say-to-(her), ‘If you (sing.) have- not -made- yourself -dirty by having-sexual-intercourse with another man, you (sing.) will- not -be-harmed/affected with the curse that is-being-carried by this bitter water.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The priest must require her to solemnly declare that she will tell the truth. Then he must say to her, ‘as another man had sex with you? Have you faithfully slept only with your husband or not? If you have not slept with another man, nothing bad will happen to you if you drink the water.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 5:19

Verses 18b-22a give the content of an oath from the priest to which the woman must agree. If she has not committed adultery, she will not be cursed and harmed severely. However, if she has done so, the curse will happen. These verses are a third-level quotation. Some languages may prefer indirect discourse here for naturalness.

The priest shall make her take an oath, saying: This rendering suggests that the woman herself will speak the words of the oath and recite some kind of self-curse. However, the Hebrew is literally “And the priest shall make her take an oath, and he shall say to the woman.” So the actual words that follow are spoken by the priest to her. Good News Translation says “Then the priest shall make the woman agree to this oath spoken by the priest.” However, that the woman actually agrees to the oath is not based on the Hebrew at this point. A better model here is “Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her” (New International Version; similarly New Living Translation, NET Bible, Revised English Bible). In some languages, like those of the Bantu family, a causative form of the first verb can be used here by saying “Then he shall cause her to take an oath and say to her.”

If no man has lain with you refers to not having sex with another man. Some sort of euphemism or less direct manner of expression will be needed in most languages in order not to give offence or cause shame when this passage is read publicly. The Hebrew is not as explicit here as in verse 13, where Revised Standard Version has “if a man lies with her carnally” (see the comments there).

And if you have not turned aside to uncleanness: For the Hebrew verb rendered turned aside, see verse 12. The Hebrew noun for uncleanness comes from the same root as the verb rendered “has defiled herself” in verses 13-14 (see the comments there), referring to ceremonial impurity. Good News Translation leaves this important notion implied, but it should be kept explicit.

While you were under your husband’s authority is literally “under your husband,” which means while you were legally married to your husband. Good News Translation omits this phrase since it sounds redundant in English. However, it lays some emphasis on the words of the oath, so it is better to retain this reference to marriage.

Be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse means the woman will not be harmed by the curse that the bitter water can cause. For this water that brings the curse, see verse 18.

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 .