10Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 41:10:
Kupsabiny: “After that, Ishmael took/caught the daughters of the king and all the people who were still in Mizpah whom Nebuzaradan had left for Gedaliah to look after them. Ishmael went with all those people as prisoners to the land of the Ammonites.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Then Ishmael made-captives the people who were-left at Mizpa — the daughters of the king and the people whom Nebuzaradan had-handed-over to Gedalia for him to take-care-of. Then Ishmael went back to Ammon taking-with (him) these captives.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then Ishmael and his men captured the king’s daughters and some of the other people who had been left in Mizpah by Nebuzaradan in order that Gedaliah would take care of them. Ishmael and his men took those people and started back toward the Ammon area.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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.”
All the rest of the people who were in Mizpah … all the people who were left at Mizpah: In translation it is unnecessary to mention both groups since these phrases apparently refer to the same people. So Good News Translation translates “Then he made prisoners of the king’s daughters and all the rest of the people in Mizpah.”
Set out to cross over: This could give the impression that he had to cross a river or a lake; or it could mean “to join up with,” which seems the best interpretation. But Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch both see it simply as an indication of the direction Ishmael was going.
To the Ammonites: Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have the equivalent of “in the direction of the territory of Ammon.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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