1Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke down the pillars, cut down the sacred poles, and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, all to their individual properties.
Bura-Pabir: “sacrifice mound” (source: Andy Warrren-Rothlin)
Kalanga: “fireplace of sacrifice” (source: project-specific notes in Paratext)
The Ignaciano translators decided to translate the difficult term in that language according to the focus of each New Testament passage in which the word appears (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight
Willis Ott (in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.) explains:
Matt. 5:23,24: “When you take your offering to God, and arriving, you remember…, do not offer your gift yet. First go to your brother…Then it is fitting to return and offer your offering to God.” (The focus is on improving relationships with people before attempting to improve a relationship with God, so the means of offering, the altar, is not focal.)
Matt. 23:18 (19,20): “You also teach erroneously: ‘If someone makes a promise, swearing by the offering-place/table, he is not guilty if he should break the promise. But if he swears by the gift that he put on the offering-place/table, he will be guilty if he breaks the promise.'”
Luke 1:11: “…to the right side of the table where they burn incense.”
Luke 11.51. “…the one they killed in front of the temple (or the temple enclosure).” (The focus is on location, with overtones on: “their crime was all the more heinous for killing him there”.)
Rom. 11:3: “Lord, they have killed all my fellow prophets that spoke for you. They do not want anyone to give offerings to you in worship.” (The focus is on the people’s rejection of religion, with God as the object of worship.)
1Cor. 9:13 (10:18): “Remember that those that attend the temple have rights to eat the foods that people bring as offerings to God. They have rights to the meat that the people offer.” (The focus is on the right of priests to the offered food.)
Heb. 7:13: “This one of whom we are talking is from another clan. No one from that clan was ever a priest.” (The focus in on the legitimacy of this priest’s vocation.)
Jas. 2:21: “Remember our ancestor Abraham, when God tested him by asking him to give him his son by death. Abraham was to the point of stabbing/killing his son, thus proving his obedience.” (The focus is on the sacrifice as a demonstration of faith/obedience.)
Rev. 6:9 (8:3,5; 9:13; 14:18; 16:7): “I saw the souls of them that…They were under the table that holds God’s fire/coals.” (This keeps the concepts of: furniture, receptacle for keeping fire, and location near God.)
Rev. 11:1: “Go to the temple, Measure the building and the inside enclosure (the outside is contrasted in v. 2). Measure the burning place for offered animals. Then count the people who are worshiping there.” (This altar is probably the brazen altar in a temple on earth, since people are worshiping there and since outside this area conquerors are allowed to subjugate for a certain time.)
In the Hebraic English translation of Everett Fox it is translated as slaughter-site and likewise in the German translation by Buber / Rosenzweig as Schlachtstatt.
The Hebrew that is translated as “high places” in English is translated in Chitonga as malende. Ernst Wendland (1987, p. 57) explains: “The preceding expression [‘place for worship/sacrifice on top of hills’], though intelligible linguistically, sounds rather strange to the Tonga who live on the relatively flat plains of southern Zambia. There are ‘hills’ in their country, but normally no one would ever worship regularly there. For this reason the new translation will try out a cultural substitute (see below), malende, the ‘local shrine’ of Tonga traditional religion, where the ‘priest’ (clan head, who may be a chief as well) makes sacrifices to the spirits in time of corporate calamity, especially drought. This would seem to approximate quite closely the main elements of both form and function of the term ‘high places’ in the Old Testament, which were not always or even usually set upon hills, especially in the latter days of the monarchy (cp. 2 Kings 17:9, 29).”
In the Chichewa interconfessional translation (publ. 1999), it is translated as “shrines for worshiping images there.” (Source: Ernst Wendland in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 319ff. )
The Hebrew that is typically translated as “sacred pole” in English is translated in Elhomwe with mafanwiiwa a Asherimu or “idol of Asherah” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext) and in the English translation by Goldingay (2018) as totem pole.
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Ephraim” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “palm tree” referring to the palm of Deborah in the land of Ephraim (see Judges 4:5. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Benjamin” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “wolf,” referring to Genesis 49:27. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 31:1:
Kupsabiny: “When that festival was finished, all the people of Israel who were at that festival went to every city of Judah and destroyed the stones that had been raised/put up in order to be worshipped. They cut down the things that had been formed to resemble the idol of Asherah and scattered the things of sacrifice there on the hills where idols were prayed to. Those people destroyed those things completely in the whole land of Judah and Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh. Then, they returned to their cities and each one sent to his home.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “When the (celebration of the) Passover festival was completed, the Israelites went from town to town in Judah. They smashed the sacred puja stones and cut down the idols of the Asharah goddess. They destroyed the puja places and altars all over Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh’s high hills. Having done that the Israelites all returned to their own homes.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “After the feast, the Israelinhon who attended there went to the cities of Juda and they smashed the remembrance stones and cut-down the poles that symbolize the goddess Ashera. They destroyed the places-of-worship in the high places and the altars throughout Juda and Benjamin, and in Efraim and Manase. After they had-destroyed everything they went-home to their towns and land.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “After the festival ended, the Israelis who were there went to all the towns in Judah and smashed the stones/pillars for worshiping idols, and cut down the poles for worshiping the goddess Asherah. They destroyed the shrines on the hilltops and the altars of Baal throughout the areas where the tribes of Judah and Benjamin lived, and also in the areas of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. After destroying all of them, they returned to their own towns.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Now when all this was finished: All this refers to the double Passover festival described in the previous chapter. New Century Version renders this clause as “When the Passover celebration was finished.”
All Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah: All Israel refers to all the Israelites from the southern and northern kingdoms who attended the Passover celebration.
And broke in pieces the pillars and hewed down the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars … until they had destroyed them all: Each of the four verbs here focuses on some form of destruction. The last of these verbs is a more general term that sums up the others. For pillars and Asherim, see the comments on 2 Chr 14.3. As noted there, Asherim refers to “sacred poles” (New Revised Standard Version), which were dedicated to the goddess Asherah. For high places, see the comments on 1 Chr 16.39 and 2 Chr 1.3. The altars in view here were for other gods.
Throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh: Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh refer to the tribal territories by these names. The religious reform was carried out not just in the southern kingdom, but also in parts of the northern kingdom. Since the beginning of this verse states that the people went to the cities of Judah, Good News Translation renders throughout all Judah as “throughout the rest of Judah.” Contemporary English Version makes the reference to Manasseh more precise by translating “West Manasseh” since this is apparently the implied meaning.
Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his possession: The second part of this sentence focuses on individuals returning home after having made a more general statement. The Hebrew word translated possession may be understood in the sense of “property” (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible). Revised English Bible renders this whole sentence as “That done, the Israelites returned, each to his own holding in his own town.” Good News Translation says simply “then they all returned home.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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