elder (of the community)

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the Danish Bibelen 2020 as folkets ledere or “leaders of the people.”

Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators, explains: “The term ‘elder’ turned out to pose a particularly thorny problem. In traditional bibles, you can find elders all of over the place and they never pose a problem for a translator, they are just always elders. But how to find a contemporary term for this semi-official, complex position? This may have been our longest-standing problem. A couple of times we thought we had the solution, and then implemented it throughout the texts, only to find out that it didn’t work. Like when we used city council or village council, depending on the context. In the end we felt that the texts didn’t work with such official terms, and throughout the years in the desert, these terms didn’t make much sense. Other suggestions were ‘the eldest and wisest’, ‘the respected citizens’, ‘the Israelites with a certain position in society’, ‘the elder council’ –- and let me point out that these terms sound better in Danish than in English (‘de fremtrædende borgere,’ ‘de mest fremtrædende israelitter,’ ‘alle israelitter med en vis position,’ ‘de ældste og de klogeste,’ ‘ældsterådet’). In the end we just said ‘leaders of the people.’ After a lot of hand-wringing, it turned out that we actually found a term that worked well. So, we had to give up conveying the fact that they were old, but the most important point is that they were community leaders.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )

The German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).

with a loud voice

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “with a loud voice” in English is translated in Low German idiomatically as luuthals or “loud-throated” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006).

It is also used in Acts 19:28 for krazó (κράζω).

Translation commentary on Susanna 1:24

If integrated into the book of Daniel: 13.24.

Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice: Susanna is not quite ready to give in; she employs the rape victim’s classic defense, screaming. (The legal distinction between adultery and rape in Deut 22.23-27 depends on the victim’s screaming for help.) The Greek is literally translated by Revised Standard Version, but once again the translator must visualize the scene and describe it. The verb cried out can be expressed in various ways, and “started screaming” (Good News Translation) fits in well here, though “shouted” would not be out of place. Contemporary English Version says “screamed for help.”

The two elders shouted against her: They did not “shout her down” as in New English Bible. Once Susanna screamed for help, the only way their plan could work was to start shouting accusations immediately. Good News Translation does an excellent job in conveying the commotion in this scene. Even the name Susanna would slow down the action, so Good News Translation substitutes it with the pronoun “she.” The feeling of excitement is furthered in Good News Translation by joining this sentence with the next one, so that the reader pictures the wild scene of Susanna standing there screaming, both of the judges shouting at her, while one of them runs off to unbar the gate—all of this going on at the same time.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.