elder (of the community)

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the Danish Bibelen 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 German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).

complete verse (Judges 11:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Judges 11:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “But Jephthah told the leaders of Gilead, ‘Why are you crying to me and you have chased me from our home. What have you now seen/realized in order to come to me? Is it because suffering has come to you?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead — "Despising me, you sent me hither, out of my father’s house, didn’t you? Why have you come to me now that you are in trouble?"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But Jefta replied, ‘(Is it) not so that you (plur.) were angry with me and you (plur.) drove- me -away from the house of my father? Now that you (plur.) are in difficulty, you (plur.) would-ask-for help from me?’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But Jephthah replied, ‘You hated me previously! You forced me to leave my father’s house! So why are you coming to me now, asking me to help you when you are experiencing trouble?’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 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).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Judges 11:7

But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead: Jephthah was certainly surprised when the leaders came from Gilead to ask him to lead their men to war. Supposedly these same people had run him out of town, but now they have changed their minds. But, which renders the Hebrew waw conjunction, shows that Jephthah is going to make some objection. Jephthah responds with two rhetorical questions full of irony. In some languages it may be preferable to put the second question before the first one.

Did you not hate me, and drive me out of my father’s house?: This rhetorical question is very strong in Hebrew, which is literally “Was it not you, you hated me, and you expelled me from the house of my father?” The pronoun you is emphatic and conveys a strong accusation. We could say “Aren’t you the ones who…?” or “You! You’re the ones who…!” The pronoun you refers specifically to the leaders of Gilead, but also indirectly to all its inhabitants. This is the first time the Hebrew verb rendered hate (sanaʾ) is used in this book (appearing again in verse 15.2). It is a strong word that may be rendered “detest” or “despise.” New Revised Standard Version uses the verb “rejected,” which seems a little weak for this context.

Drive me out of my father’s house uses the same words found in verse 11.2, except that there the people speak of “our father’s house” and here Jephthah emphasizes he was driven from his father’s house. There two interpretations were possible: either the people of Gilead chased Jephthah from his homeland, or his half-brothers chased him from the family home. Whatever the interpretation, the phrase my father’s house is very emphatic and most versions render it literally. There is much emotion here as Jephthah recalls how his own people treated him in the past.

Translation models for the first half of this verse are:

• Jephthah replied, “You, you are the ones who hated me and drove me out of my home!

• But Jephthah responded, “[Wait!] Aren’t you the ones who hated me so much that you chased me from my father’s home?

Why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?: This second rhetorical question starts with “And why have you come to me…?” which may be rendered “So why are you coming to me…?” It contains a challenge to the elders, suggesting that they have no right to turn to him for help, since they previously rejected him. Jephthah expresses great indignation here, so other possible renderings are “How dare you come to me…” and “You dare to come to me…!” Why have you come to me now…? may need to be made more explicit by saying “Why have you come to me for help now…?” Now is a temporal adverb that gives an ironic note to the question. We may place it near the beginning as follows: “So now it’s you who’s coming to me for help…!”

When you are in trouble is literally “when it is distressing/cramped for you.” The Hebrew verb here is also used in verse 2.15 and verse 10.9, and it comes from the same root translated “distress” in verse 10.14 (see comments there). Clearly Jephthah knows that the elders would not have come to him if they had other choices.

The second rhetorical question may be rendered:

• So why have you come to me for help, now that you are in trouble?”

• So now you come to me when you have no other choice?”

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .