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 )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 36:4:
Kupsabiny: “Then that assistant told the Eliakim group, ‘Tell Hezekiah that the great king of Assyria has said, ‘What are you boasting about?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The captain of the soldiers said to them, "Tell Hezekiah: "’The great king of Assyria says like this: What do you hope for from what you are trusting? Whom have you taken confidence?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The commander said to them, ‘[You (plur.)] tell Hezekia, that this is what the powerful king of Asiria has-said: ‘On what are- you (sing.) -relying-upon?” (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.”
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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. )
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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, itteo-rare-ru (言っておられる) or “saying” is used.
And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria …: The Assyrian ambassador asks the three officials of Judah to pass on a message from his king to Hezekiah. For the three levels of quotation here, see the introductory comments on this subsection [36.4-10].
Say to Hezekiah renders a polite request in Hebrew. Translators should use polite forms here, for example, “Please say to Hezekiah.”
In the quote frame Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, the verb says may be rendered “asks” since a question follows. The great king appears as an official title for Assyrian kings in many of their records. It reflects their arrogance at that time. Revised English Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh use capital letters here, saying “the Great King,” which is helpful. This indicates it is a royal title rather than just a description. If the repetition of the word king is a problem, this whole quote frame may be rendered “Thus says the Great King of Assyria.”
On what do you rest this confidence of yours?: This is a rhetorical question that asks about the origin of Hezekiah’s confidence. It emphasizes that it is foolish for Hezekiah to have any confidence in the face of Assyrian power. Hezekiah had joined in a rebellion against Assyria and he confidently expected some help from Egypt in achieving his goal of independence. The verb rest and the noun confidence come from the same Hebrew root meaning “to trust.” This root is a keyword in the section (rendered “rely” in verses 5-7, 9, 15). If the receptor language does not favor the use of rhetorical questions, translators can use a strong statement here, for example, “You have nothing [at all] to base your confidence on.” See also Good News Translation and the second example below.
For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:
• Then the ambassador said to the officials of Judah, “Please tell Hezekiah that the Great King, the king of Assyria asks, ‘What makes you so confident?
• The ambassador said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that the Great King, the king of Assyria, asks how [he,] Hezekiah can be so confident.
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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