61And they took action against the two elders because out of their own mouths Daniel had convicted them of bearing false witness; they did to them as they had wickedly planned to do to their neighbor.
The Greek that is translated as “neighbor” in English is rendered into Babatana as “different man,” i.e. someone who is not one of your relatives. (Source: David Clark)
In North Alaskan Inupiatun, it is rendered as “a person outside of your building,” in Tzeltal as “your back and side” (implying position of the dwellings), in Indonesian and in Tae’ as “your fellow-man,” in Toraja-Sa’dan it is “your fellow earth-dweller,” in Shona (translation of 1966) as “another person like you,” in Kekchí “younger-brother-older-brother” (a compound which means all one’s neighbors in a community) (sources: Bratcher / Nida and Reiling / Swellengrebel), in Mairasi “your people” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Mezquital Otomi as “fellow being,” in Tzeltal as “companion,” in Isthmus Zapotec as “another,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “all people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in most modern German translations as Mitmensch or “fellow human being” (lit. “with + human being”).
In Matt 19:19, Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Luke 10:29 it is translated into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that refers to a person who is socially/physically near. Ixcatlán Mazatec also has a another term for “neighbor” that means “fellow humans-outsiders” which was not chosen for these passages. (Source: Robert Bascom)
In Noongar it is translated as moorta-boordak or “people nearby” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the DanishBibelen 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 Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).
The term that is transliterated as “Daniel” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the sign for the letter D and for “lion,” referring to the story in Daniel 6. (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Daniel” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with the sign for “prayer” that illustrates Daniel’s close relationship with God.
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
These two verses have the following complex series of ideas:
A. And they rose against the two elders,
B. for out of their own mouths Daniel had convicted them of bearing false witness;
C. and they did to them as they had wickedly planned to do to their neighbor;
D. acting in accordance with the law of Moses,
E. they put them to death.
Restructuring this series could clarify things. One possibility is:
B. Daniel had tricked the two men and proved that they had lied under oath,
A. so the people turned on them
E. and put them to death.
D. This is what the Law of Moses required,
C. since they had plotted against the life of another person.
They rose against the two elders: The Greek verb here definitely suggests violent action, which “turned against” (Good News Translation) or “condemned” (Contemporary English Version) does not convey. “Turned on” (New English Bible) or “took action against” (New Revised Standard Version) is better.
And they did to them as they had wickedly planned to do to their neighbor; acting in accordance with the law of Moses, they put them to death: The people carry out the death sentences entrusted to the angel of God in verses 55 and 59. The passage in the Law referred to here is Deut 19.16-21. A masculine form of the word for neighbor is used in Greek; the writer is probably referring to the legal principle stated in Deut 19.16-21 rather than to Susanna. This explains Good News Translation‘s lengthy rewording here: “The Law of Moses states that people who give false testimony shall receive the same punishment that the accused person would have received. And so the two judges were put to death.” However, the restructuring suggested above may explain what the Law of Moses has to do with the people’s action without requiring any insertions.
Thus innocent blood was saved that day: This is a concluding sentence in Greek. Innocent blood refers, of course, to Susanna’s life. Good News Translation omits that day, but it is in the Greek, and helps sum up the passage. Other possible renderings for this sentence are “The life of an innocent person was saved that day” and “And that day they saved the life of an innocent person [or, woman].”
An alternative translation model combining verses 61 and 62 is the following:
• Daniel had tricked the two men and proved that they had lied under oath [or, in court]. Since the Law of Moses required that they be punished the same way they would have treated those whom they falsely accused, the people turned on [or, took action against] them and had them executed. And so they saved the life of an innocent woman.
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.
