19“I, King Artaxerxes, have commanded the treasurers of Syria and Phoenicia that whatever Ezra the priest and reader of the law of the Most High God sends for, they shall take care to give him, up to a hundred talents of silver,
Teutila Cuicatec: “God who has a great rule” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Sa’a: “God, the Surpassing One” (source: Carl Gross)
Elhomwe: Mulluku Muullupalli or “God the Great” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Chichewa: Wammwambamwamba: A name of God. While this word is difficult to translate into English, its sense implies that God is highly above everything in his power and greatness. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
The Hebrew, Aramaic, 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.
The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Ezra” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “scribe” referring to Ezra’s profession. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Verses 19-22 should be a separate paragraph (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Bible). In these verses King Artaxerxes gives orders to certain royal officials in the area of Judah. In verse 19 these officials are spoken of in the third person, but in verse 22 they are addressed in the second person. Readers will find it easier if third person (so Contemporary English Version and models below) or second person is used for them throughout this paragraph.
And I, Artaxerxes the king, have commanded the treasurers of Syria and Phoenicia that whatever Ezra the priest and reader of the law of the Most High God sends for, they shall take care to give him: In case Ezra finds, when he returns to Jerusalem, that he does not have all he needs to restore proper worship in Jerusalem, the king orders the royal treasurers who are much closer to Jerusalem than the Persian capital to supply the need (compare 1 Esd 6.29). Treasurers were located at various centers in the Persian Empire and were responsible for the expenditure of government money. They were the officials who controlled or who took care of the finances and the resources that belonged to the government. The treasurers here were not from the time of Sisinnes and Sathrabuzanes (1 Esd 6.3), but were officials at the much later time when Ezra returned. For Syria and Phoenicia, see the comments on 1 Esd 2.17, where “Coelesyria” is used instead of Syria. For reader of the law, see 1 Esdras 8.8; for Most High God, see 1 Esd 6.31.
Up to a hundred talents of silver, and likewise up to a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, and salt in abundance: Verse 20 puts limits on what the royal treasurers are authorized to give Ezra. For a hundred talents of silver, which is equivalent to about 3,400 kilograms (7,500 pounds) of silver, see the comments on 1 Esd 1.35-36. A hundred cors of wheat is equivalent to about 22,000 liters (600 bushels) of wheat. The cor was a unit of measure for volume or capacity, used for dry measure as well as for olive oil. It is equal to about 220 liters or 6 bushels. A hundred baths of wine is equivalent to about 2,200 liters (600 gallons) of wine. The bath (a Hebrew word, not to be confused with the English word “bath”) was a unit of liquid measure. It is equal to about 22 liters or 6 gallons. Salt in abundance means there is no limit placed on it. For wheat, wine and salt, see the comments on 1 Esd 6.30.
Here is an alternative model for verses 19-20:
• 19 “I, King Artaxerxes, [hereby] command the treasurers of the province of Phoenicia and Greater Syria that they must provide whatever Ezra, the priest and scholar of God Most High, requests, 20 up to 3,400 kilograms of silver, 22,000 liters of wheat, 2,200 liters of wine, and all the salt that is needed.
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.