The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the DanishBibelen 2020 as folkets ledere or “leaders of the people.”
Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators, explains: “The term ‘elder’ turned out to pose a particularly thorny problem. In traditional bibles, you can find elders all of over the place and they never pose a problem for a translator, they are just always elders. But how to find a contemporary term for this semi-official, complex position? This may have been our longest-standing problem. A couple of times we thought we had the solution, and then implemented it throughout the texts, only to find out that it didn’t work. Like when we used city council or village council, depending on the context. In the end we felt that the texts didn’t work with such official terms, and throughout the years in the desert, these terms didn’t make much sense. Other suggestions were ‘the eldest and wisest’, ‘the respected citizens’, ‘the Israelites with a certain position in society’, ‘the elder council’ –- and let me point out that these terms sound better in Danish than in English (‘de fremtrædende borgere,’ ‘de mest fremtrædende israelitter,’ ‘alle israelitter med en vis position,’ ‘de ældste og de klogeste,’ ‘ældsterådet’). In the end we just said ‘leaders of the people.’ After a lot of hand-wringing, it turned out that we actually found a term that worked well. So, we had to give up conveying the fact that they were old, but the most important point is that they were community leaders.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
The Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding the elders.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 24:14:
Kupsabiny: “Moses had earlier told the elders that, ‘Wait us here until we come back from the peak of the mountain. You will stay with Aaron and Hur. If any of you collides with another person, you go to these elders to counsel you.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Before they climbed-up, Moises said to the leaders of Israel, ‘[You (plur.)] wait for us (excl.) here until we (excl.) come-back. Aaron and Hur will-remain/stay here with you (plur.), and if you (plur.) have a problem, [you (plur.)] just go to them.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “But he spoke ahead of time to the elders of Israel like this, ‘You (pl.) stay here in the camp and then be awaiting the two of us (excl.) until we return back to you. Yo, Aron and Ur are staying with you. And so if anyone has an argument, they must go to the two of them, and then they [will] straighten the dispute for them.’” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “And he say elders «you wait [your direction] us (excl.) this place, until we (excl.) will return [this direction]. Look, Aaron and Hur, they be present with you together. When others will quarrel [mouth], let them go to them.»” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “So Moses/I told the elders, ‘Stay here with the other people until we return! Do not forget that Aaron and Hur will be with you. So if anyone has a dispute while I am gone, he can go to those two men.’ Then Moses/I went with his/my servant Joshua part of the way up the mountain that was dedicated to God.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
And he said to the elders may present a problem in sequence, for verse 13 says that Moses had already gone up higher on the mountain. New Revised Standard Version and others add the pluperfect, “To the elders he had said,” which is suggested only by the context. (See the comment on the pluperfect at 12.35.) In languages where the pluperfect is not easily expressed, one may say “Before he went up, he said to the elders.” Good News Translation makes this adjustment in verse 13 by saying “Moses began to go up” rather than simply “Moses went up.”
Tarry here for us is literally “Sit down for us in this [place],” which suggests that Joshua went part way with Moses. Good News Translation has “Wait here in the camp for us,” but “in the camp” is not in the Hebrew. This is an interpretation based on the reference to Hur, who was not included in the list of 24.1 and 9. (But see 17.10.) There is no suggestion that they all returned to the foot of the mountain after verse 11. So translators are urged to simply say “wait here until….” Until we come to you again is literally “until when we [Moses and Joshua] will return unto you [plural].”
And, behold is omitted in most translations, but Durham has “Look.” Aaron and Hur are with you suggests that Hur held an important position as a judge along with Aaron. (See 17.10 and 18.25-26.) Whoever has a cause is literally “who [is] an owner of words,” which is an idiom for “anyone who has a legal dispute” (Translator’s Old Testament), or “anyone involved in a dispute” (New International Version). Let him go to them is literally “he will approach them.” The idea here is that Aaron and Hur are authorized to settle major disputes in Moses’ absence. Contemporary English Version has “they can settle any arguments while we are away.”
Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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