priest

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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.

See also idolatrous priests.

mourn

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “mourn” or similar in English is translated in Newari as “have one’s heart broken” or “have a bursting heart” (source: Newari Back Translation).

Translation commentary on 1 Esdras 8:69

The people of Israel and the leaders and the priests and the Levites have not put away from themselves the alien peoples of the land and their pollutions …: For priests and Levites, see the comments on 1 Esd 1.2-3. The alien peoples of the land refers to the non-Jews living in and near the land of Judah. The Greek word for pollutions (literally “unholy things”) may refer specifically to idolatry, but in a wider sense it refers to ways of life that go against the commands of the Law of Moses. This word may be rendered “disgusting [or, pagan] ways.”

The Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Edomites: These peoples often represented the traditional enemies of the Israelites. This list of peoples is a combination of names that are found in Deut 7.1-4 and 23.3-8. The peoples named here are peoples who lived near and in Judah, so the returning Jews would have had some contact with them. The Canaanites were the descendants of Canaan, one of the sons of Ham (Gen 10.6, 15-19). They were the earliest Semitic inhabitants of the territory that was known as Canaan in pre-Israelite times and that later came to be called Palestine. They were associated with the worship of the Baals, Astartes and the fertility goddess Asherah. Sometimes the term Canaanites is identified with the Phoenicians who lived along the Mediterranean coast of Palestine. The Hittites are identified in Gen 10.15 as the descendants of Heth, the son of Canaan. They were a powerful non-Semitic people originally from Asia Minor who lived in the area of Canaan and to the north from 1600 to 700 B.C. It was from a Hittite that Abraham bought land and a cave for his wife Sarah’s burial (Gen 23). The Perizzites are identified as people who lived in the land of Canaan as well, but little is known about their origins. Their descendants were included among Solomon’s slave laborers (1 Kgs 9.20-21). Some commentators consider that the name may refer to people who lived in unwalled cities or in the more rural areas of the country. The Jebusites were the early inhabitants of Jerusalem. The name Jebus was both their name as a people and the early name of the site that came to be known as Jerusalem (Josh 15.8). The Moabites were traditionally regarded as the descendants of Moab, the son of Lot and his elder daughter (Gen 19.37). They lived in the region east of the Dead Sea and worshiped a god named Chemosh. The Egyptians were the people who lived in the land of Egypt and who were considered to be the descendants of Egypt, one of the sons of Ham (Gen 10.6). The Egyptians were known to worship a variety of deities, including Osiris the god of the Nile and Re (or, Ra) the sun god. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, also called Edom (Gen 36.1). They lived between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.

There is no apparent reason for the order in which the names are given. Some commentators observe that it was only the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Edomites who were still living in the neighboring areas at the time of Ezra. Good News Bible restructures the list to distinguish between names that refer to the people of countries from the names that refer to ethnic groups or genealogical descendants. Good News Bible lists the three countries or lands first and then the four ethnic groups. Translators will need to use the appropriate form in the receptor language to refer to lands and the people who dwell in them on the one hand, and names of groups of people on the other hand. For the first category, it will be necessary to use expressions that refer to the inhabitants of a geographical entity. For the second one, expressions should be used for peoples, such as a name that indicates ethnic identity or descent, for example, “the children of….”

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.