25He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant has not gone anywhere at all.”
The name that is transliterated as “Elisha” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying “help + prophet.” (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Kings 5:25:
Kupsabiny: “Later/After that, Gehazi went to where Elisha was. He asked Gehazi, ‘Where have you been?’ Gehazi answered, ‘I have not gone anywhere, sir.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “He went in and stood before his master. Elisha asked, "Where did you go, Gehazi?" Gehazi replied, "I did not go anywhere."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “and then he showed-up to Elisha. Elisha asked him, ‘Where have- you -come-from, Gehazi?’ Gehazi replied, ‘I did- not -go anywhere.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “When he went to Elisha, Elisha asked him, ‘Where did you go, Gehazi?’ Gehazi replied, ‘I did not go anywhere.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
He went in; that is, Gehazi went back into the house where Elisha was. Some languages will prefer to use a verb like “returned” since he had just been in the house to hide the goods he had received from Naaman. It should be noted also that the Hebrew pronoun for He is emphatic, putting the spotlight on Gehazi. New Jerusalem Bible seeks to stress this emphasis by translating “He, for his part, went.”
Stood before his master: This is the usual expression indicating a readiness to serve (see the comments on 2 Kgs 3.14). New Jerusalem Bible translates “presented himself to his master.”
Your servant went nowhere: The use of the indirect reference, your servant, for the sake of politeness, will be confusing in many languages and will have to be replaced by the personal pronoun; for example, “I have been nowhere” or “I didn’t go anywhere.” But the element of politeness may be retained by using a term of respect like “sir” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version).
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 .
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