32So they tied sackcloth around their waists, put ropes on their heads, went to the king of Israel, and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’ ” And he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
The Hebrew or Greek which are translated into English as “sackcloth” are rendered into Chamula Tzotzil as “sad-heart clothes.” (Source: Robert Bascom)
Pohnpeian and Chuukese translate it as “clothing-of sadness,” Eastern Highland Otomi uses “clothing that hurts,” Central Mazahua “that which is scratchy,” Tae’ and Zarma “rags” (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel), and Tangale as “torn clothes that show contrition on the body” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin). In the English translation by Goldingay (2018), “put on sackcloth” is translated as wrap on sack.
“In Turkana, a woman removes her normal everyday skin clothes and ornaments and wears rather poor skins during the time of mourning. The whole custom is known as ngiboro. It is very difficult to translate putting on sackcloth because even material like sacking is unfamiliar. The Haya, on the other hand, have a mourning cloth made out of the bark of a tree; and the use of this cloth is similar to the Jewish use of sackcloth. It was found that in both the Turkana and Ruhaya common language translations, their traditional mourning ceremonies were used.” (Source: Rachel Konyoro in The Bible Translator1985, p. 221ff. )
Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing what a sackcloth looked like in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)
In Malay, the pronoun beta for the royal “I” (or “my” or “me”) that is used by royals when speaking to people of lower rank, subordinates or commoners to refer to themselves in these verses. This reflects the “language of the court because the monarchy and sultanate in Malaysia are still alive and well. All oral and printed literature (including newspapers and magazines) preserve and glorify the language of the court. Considering that the language of the court is part of the Malaysian language, court language is used sparingly where appropriate, specifically with texts relating to palace life.” (Source: Daud Soesilo in The Bible Translator 2025, p. 263ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 20:32:
Kupsabiny: “Then, those people dressed in sacks and tied ropes around the neck and went to Ahab. They said to (him), ‘Your servant Ben-hadad begs you not to kill him.’ Then Ahab said, ‘It is good that he is still alive, for he is my brother.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “They tied burlap on their waists and rope on their heads, then they went to Ahab and spoke like this, "Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please allow me to live.’" Ahab said to him, "Is he alive even now? He is my younger brother."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “So they covered-themselves-with a sack and they coiled with a rope around their heads. Then they went to the king of Israel and said, ‘Ben Hadad who respects you is-pleading that if possible you will- not -kill him.’ The king replied, ‘Is he indeed/(gali -surprise particle) still alive? It-seems like he is my brother.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The king permitted them to do that, so they wrapped coarse sacks around their waists and put ropes on their heads/necks, and they went to the king of Israel and said to him, ‘Ben-Hadad, who greatly respects you, says, ‘Please do not kill me.’’ Ahab replied, ‘Is he still alive? He is like a brother to me!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
Here, tasukete (助けて) or “help” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Put ropes is literally “ropes.” Revised Standard Version adds the verb put as required by the context.
Pray, let me live: The particle of entreaty, Pray, is important and should somehow be reflected in translation if at all possible. Good News Translation, like New American Bible, attempts to do so by using the verb “pleads,” while certain other versions have “Please” (New International Version, New Century Version, Anchor Bible). But in many languages it may be better translated by introducing the request with the words “I beg you….”
Let me live is literally “let my soul live.” See the comments on 1 Kgs 1.12 regarding the Hebrew noun for “soul,” which is nephesh. In certain languages this may be more naturally rendered negatively as “don’t kill me.”
Since the words of Benhadad’s officials contain a quotation within another quotation, they may be more naturally rendered by changing the embedded quotation into indirect speech. Good News Translation provides one possible model. An alternative model is “Our king Benhadad is your servant. He begs you to let him remain alive.”
He said may be rendered “Ahab answered” (Good News Translation).
Does he still live?: This question probably should be taken as a real question of surprise by Ahab. He would have thought Benhadad had died during the battle or when the wall of Aphek had collapsed. In some languages this question may be rendered “Is he really still living?”
He is my brother: For brother see the comments on 1 Kgs 9.13. In this verse the word is certainly not to be understood in its literal sense. For this reason it is acceptable to translate “Benhadad is like a brother to me” (Contemporary English Version). Translators may wish to include a footnote stating that the word brother was used in treaties to indicate that the rulers making the treaties were equal in status.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
In these verses, mōsu (申す), the respectful form of iu (言う) or “say / speak” is used. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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