2The king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. He stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the fuller’s field.
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin that is transliterated as “Hezekiah” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the signs for “king” and “facing the wall” referring to Isaiah 38:2. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
In Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) it is translated with a sign that signifies a model, a parameter for his life, referring to “he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his ancestor David had done” of 2 Kings 18:3. (Source: Missão Kophós )
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin that is translated as “army” in English is translated in Chichewa as “group of warriors.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 36:2:
Kupsabiny: “Then the king of Assyria told his assistant to send soldiers on a raid. He told him to leave the city of Lachish together with many soldiers to go and fight Hezekiah in Jerusalem. That man went to stand/stop where a water channel of/from a pond was near at the upper side of the road that is wide that goes towards where clothes are washed.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The king of Assyria, having given a great army to Captain, sent him from Lachish to attack Jerusalem. Having arrived in Jerusalem, having come, He stop on the road near the canal of the pond which is situated above [it] which goes to the field of the washermen.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “And while Sennacherib was there at Lakish, he commanded his commander together-with many soldiers to go to Jerusalem to meet with King Hezekia. When the commander was already there outside of Jerusalem, he and his soldiers stopped near the-channel/passageway of water from above the pool, there at the road going to the place where-one-wash-clothes.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
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:
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.”
And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army: Sennacherib sent his messenger, the Rabshakeh, to Hezekiah with a large army. Rabshakeh is an Assyrian title rather than a person’s name. Its specific meaning is uncertain, but some believe it means “chief cupbearer” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible; see Neh 1.11, where the Hebrew word for “cupbearer” comes from the same root as the one for Rabshakeh). Translators may transliterate the term, but it would be more meaningful to use a title such as “chief official” (Good News Translation) or “chief officer” (Revised English Bible). Since he was the Assyrian king’s representative, another possible rendering is “ambassador” (see 18.2).
When Sennacherib sent his messenger, he and his army were laying siege to the city of Lachish. This city lay to the southwest of Jerusalem in the foothills of Judah. It was an important city, first fortified during the biblical period by Rehoboam (2 Chr 11.9). Capturing this city would make it possible for an enemy to attack the cities in the mountains of Judah, including Jerusalem. Sennacherib’s own records show many details concerning the capture of Lachish.
And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field: The pronoun he refers to the Rabshakeh, which some languages may prefer to make explicit. Instead of stood, Good News Translation says “occupied.” New Jerusalem Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh have “took up [a] position.” For by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, see the comments on 7.3, which mentions it as almost the same place where Isaiah had met King Ahaz.
Translation examples for this verse are:
• The Assyrian king sent his ambassador from the city of Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. A large army went with him. The ambassador stood near the water channel of the upper pool, along the road to the field where clothes were washed.
• The Assyrian king sent his official, the Rabshakeh, from the city of Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem along with a large army. The Rabshakeh stood near the channel from the upper reservoir. It was on the road leading to the place where people washed their clothes.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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