complete verse (2 Kings 17:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Kings 17:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “But/And in the ninth year of Hoshea ruling, the king of Assyria took over that city of Samaria. He caught the people of Israel and went with them to his country being prisoners. He gave those people to stay/live in the city of Halah, others to live in Gozan which was near the river Habor and/but others lived in the cities of Media.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “In the ninth year of King Hoshea, the King of Assyria conquered Samaria. Then he deported the Israelites to Assyria, settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the banks of the Habor river and in the cities of the Medes.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And in the 9th year of the reign of Hoshea, the king of Asiria conquered Samaria, and he brought as captives the ones of/from-Israel to Asiria. He caused- them -to-live in the town of Hala, in/at the places near River Habor in Gozan, and in/at the towns of the Medianhon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Finally, after King Hoshea had been ruling Israel for nine years, the army of Assyria forcefully entered the city and captured the people. They took the Israeli people to Assyria and forced some of them to live in Halah town. They forced others to live near the Habor River in Gozan district. They forced others to live in the towns where the Mede people-group lived.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

king

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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:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • 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.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on 2 Kings 17:6

In the ninth year of Hoshea: As in the dating of the beginning of a king’s reign (compare verse 1), this does not refer to the age of Hoshea, but to the ninth year of his rule over Israel (722 B.C.).

At this point in history, the king of Assyria probably does not refer to Shalmaneser V, but to his brother Sargon II, who followed him. Historical information from non-biblical sources has helped scholars to determine this. It would therefore be a mistake to substitute the name of Shalmaneser at this point. But since the identification of this king as Sargon II is not completely certain and since he is not mentioned elsewhere in this account, the use of this name should be limited to a footnote (so Good News Translation).

Carried the Israelites away: For the idea of deportation, or sending into exile, which is referred to here, see 2 Kgs 15.29. Ancient Assyrian texts indicate that 27,290 people were taken into exile by Sargon II.

Placed them: Others may say “located them.” In some languages a causative verb form may be most natural here, such as “caused them to settle” or “made them establish residence.”

Classifier terms should almost certainly be added to the proper names Halah, Habor and Gozan. The name Halah most likely refers to Halahhu, the name of both a town and a district northeast of Nineveh, although in the Septuagint, Halah and Habor are both considered to be rivers. The precise location of Halah is uncertain. The second geographical term Habor refers to a river that flows into the Euphrates River. The third term Gozan probably refers to a city-state through which the Habor River flowed. It was located in northern Mesopotamia. Gozan has been identified with the modern-day city Tell Halaf on the border of Turkey and Syria.

And in the cities of the Medes: In addition to the city of Halah and the area near the Habor River, other Israelite exiles were forced to settle in some of the cities in Media, a country east of Assyria. Instead of saying in the cities of the Medes, some may prefer “in the towns of Media” (Revised English Bible) or “in some of the towns of Media.”

The meaning of the last part of this verse is clearly translated by Contemporary English Version as follows:

• He forced some of them to live in the town of Halah, others to live near the Habor River in the territory of Gozan, and still others to live in towns where the Median people lived.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .