22When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace can there be, so long as the many prostitutions and sorceries of your mother Jezebel continue?”
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Jezebel” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign depicting “striking serpent” representing her deceitfulness. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Kings 9:22:
Kupsabiny: “When Joram saw Jehu, he said, ‘So is the country peaceful, Jehu?’ Jehu replied, ‘What peace can there be as long as there are still these disgusting people of idols and these witches of your mother Jezebel?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Seeing Jehu, Joram asked, "do you come for peace?" Jehu replied, "With the ongoing doing puja to idols, and chanting of tantra mantra of your mother Jezebel, how can there be peace?"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “When Joram saw Jehu, he asked him, ‘Is your (sing.) purpose to come here good, Jehu?’ Jehu replied, ‘How could it be good if there are yet sorceries and worshipping little-gods/false-gods which your (sing.) mother Jezebel started?’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “When Joram met Jehu, he said to him, ‘Are you coming on a peaceful visit?’ Jehu replied, ‘How can there be peace while you and your people are prostrating themselves to worship idols and practicing very much <witchcraft/sorcery> like your mother Jezebel did?/There certainly cannot be peace while you and your people are prostrating themselves to worship idols and practicing <witchcraft/sorcery> like your mother Jezebel has been doing!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
In Hebrew this verse begins with the verbal transition that is sometimes rendered “And it happened,” but here it is left untranslated in most modern versions.
He said: The verb said will be more naturally rendered “asked” in certain languages since a question follows.
Is it peace, Jehu?: The same question asked by the two messengers (verses 17-19) and by Jehu’s fellow officers (verse 11) is now asked by King Joram. Joram was apparently asking Jehu if he was coming in peace or coming to attack him, but some interpreters think it more likely that he was asking if all was well on the battlefront. Jehu’s answer, however, suggests that a translation such as “Are you coming in peace?” (Good News Translation) is the intended meaning.
What peace can there be, so long as the harlotries and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?: This question is really a means of denying that peace is possible under present conditions. In some languages the question format will have to be dropped in favor of a categorical statement, such as “There cannot be any peace….” New Century Version adopts this solution, saying “There will never be any order [peace] as long as your mother Jezebel worships idols and uses witchcraft.” But this model leaves out the idea contained in the words so many.
The Hebrew word translated harlotries (New Revised Standard Version “whoredoms,” New Jerusalem Bible “prostitutions”) has a figurative meaning here and stands for “idolatry” (as in Hos 1.2; 5.4; Nahum 3.4). Revised English Bible says “obscene idol-worship.” For the last half of Jehu’s response, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente translates “as long as your mother Jezebel continues to prostitute herself to other gods and make magic.” The Hebrew word for sorceries refers to practices also known as witchcraft, voodoo, or black magic. This term is also found in Isa 47.9, 12; Micah 5.12 and Nahum 3.4 (where Revised Standard Version renders it “charms”).
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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