purify

In Nehemiah 12:30 reference is made to ritual purification. In Poqomchi’ it was felt necessary to emphasize that is “not simply taken a bath and hosing down the new walls. The Poqomchi’s did this by clarifying ‘according to the commandment of God.'”

priest

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that are typically translated as “priest” in English (itself deriving from Latin “presbyter” — “elder”) is often translated with a consideration of existing religious traditions. (Click or tap for details)

Bratcher / Nida (1961) say this:

“However, rather than borrow local names for priests, some of which have unwanted connotations, a number of translations have employed descriptive phrases based on certain functions: (1) those describing a ceremonial activity: Pamona uses tadu, the priestess who recites the litanies in which she describes her journey to the upper or under-world to fetch life-spirit for sick people, animals or plants; Batak Toba uses the Arabic malim, ‘Muslim religious teacher;’ ‘one who presents man’s sacrifice to God’ (Bambara, Eastern Maninkakan), ‘one who presents sacrifices’ (Baoulé, Navajo (Dinė)), ‘one who takes the name of the sacrifice’ (Kpelle, and ‘to make a sacrifice go out’ (Hausa); (2) those describing an intermediary function: ‘one who speaks to God’ (Shipibo-Conibo) and ‘spokesman of the people before God’ (Tabasco Chontal).”

In Obolo it is translated as ogwu ngwugwa or “the one who offers sacrifice” (source: Enene Enene), in Mairasi as agam aevar nevwerai: “religious leader” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Ignaciano as “blesser, one who does ritual as a practice” (using a generic term rather than the otherwise common Spanish loan word sacerdote) (source: Willis Ott in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.), and in Noongar as yakin-kooranyi or “holy worker” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

For Guhu-Samane, Ernest Richert (in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. ) reports this: “The [local] cult of Poro used to be an all-encompassing religious system that essentially governed all areas of life. (…) For ‘priest’ the term ‘poro father’ would at first seem to be a natural choice. However, several priests of the old cult are still living. Although they no longer function primarily as priests of the old system they still have a substantial influence on the community, and there would be more than a chance that the unqualified term would (in some contexts particularly) be equated with the priest of the poro cult. We learned, then, that the poro fathers would sometimes be called ‘knife men’ in relation to their sacrificial work. The panel was pleased to apply this term to the Jewish priest, and the Christian community has adopted it fully. [Mark 1:44, for instance, now] reads: ‘You must definitely not tell any man of this. But you go show your body to the knife man and do what Moses said about a sacrifice concerning your being healed, and the cause (base of this) will be apparent.'”

For a revision of the 1968 version of the Bible in Khmer Joseph Hong (in: The Bible Translator 1996, 233ff. ) talks about a change in wording for this term:

​​Bau cha r (បូជា‌ចារ្យ) — The use of this new construction meaning “priest” is maintained to translate the Greek word hiereus. The term “mean sang (មាន សង្ឃ)” used in the old version actually means a “Buddhist monk,” and is felt to be theologically misleading. The Khmer considers the Buddhist monk as a “paddy field of merits,” a reserve of merits to be shared with other people. So a Khmer reader would find unthinkable that the mean sang in the Bible killed animals, the gravest sin for a Buddhist; and what a scandal it would be to say that a mean sang was married, had children, and drank wine.

See also idolatrous priests.

Levite

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is transliterated “Levites” in English (only the Contemporary English Version translates it as “temple helpers”) is translated in Ojitlán Chinantec as “temple caretakers,” Yatzachi Zapotec as “people born in the family line of Levi, people whose responsibility it was to do the work in the important church of the Israelites,” in Alekano as “servants in the sacrifice house from Jerusalem place,” and in Tenango Otomi as “helpers of priests.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)

In American Sign Language with a sign that combines “temple” + “servant.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Levite” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

For the sign in Spanish Sign Language, see Levi.

More information about Levites .

complete verse (Nehemiah 12:30)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Nehemiah 12:30:

  • Kupsabiny: “The priests and the Levites first cleansed themselves and cleansed all the people then they cleansed the gates and the wall.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The priests and the Levites performed a ceremony of cleaning so-that they will-be-cleansed, and they did the same thing to the people, to the entrance/gates of the city and its stone-wall.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When they came to Jerusalem, the priests and other descendants of Levi who help the priests performed rituals to cause themselves to be acceptable to God, and then they performed similar rituals to purify the other people, the gates, and the wall.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Nehemiah 12:30

In preparation for the ceremony of dedication, the priests and the Levites first purified themselves. This would probably have involved fasting, abstaining from sexual intercourse, and making a sin offering (see Num 8.5-8). Then they purified the people. This required the washing of their clothes, bathing, and ritual sprinkling (see Exo 19.10, 14-15; Num 8.21). Even the gates and the wall were purified. Sprinkling with hyssop may have been done as in the ritual cleansing of private houses (see Lev 14.49-53). There is no other reference to the purification of gates and walls in the Old Testament, but purification may have been done in this instance because of the status of Jerusalem as “the holy city” (Neh 11.1, 18).

For purified see Ezra 6.20.

The chronological sequence of events should be made clear in the translation. The priests and Levites first performed the ritual on themselves and only then did they perform the ritual on the people and on the city wall and its gates.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .