“A slave when he becomes king”: This refers to a striking change of fortune. The term “slave” may refer to a person with a very low status in society, or possibly to someone who was an officer in the service of a ruler (but still well below the ruler in rank). The “king” is the person who has the highest status in his country. It is not stated, but the whole saying assumes what people often observe: that “a slave” who “becomes king” is likely to behave in an arrogant and pretentious way.
“And a fool when he is filled with food”: “A fool”, as in 17.7, may refer to someone of low social status or someone whose behavior is socially unacceptable. In this case we may assume that what is unbearable is the way such a person gorges himself with food when there is plenty to eat. Revised English Bible suggests this with “a fool gorging himself”; and Contemporary English Version is similar with “a fool who eats too much.” But “a fool” may also mean someone who is ignorant or who refuses to learn. In this case such a person is much better off than he deserves to be if he is “filled with food”, that is, he “has all he wants to eat” (Good News Translation), or “he becomes wealthy” (taking the literal “filled with bread” as a figure of speech referring to wealth). Translators may choose to follow either of these approaches.
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 30:22:
Kupsabiny: “A slave who has become a king, a fool who has become rich,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “A servant becoming a king, A fool getting a chance to fill his stomach,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “A slave who became king, a foolish-one who has abundant food, an irritating woman who was-able-to-get-a-husband, and a female servant who replaced her boss/[ama].” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “the slave that becomes a king, the foolish-one who comes-to-have much food and all that he needs,” (Source: Kankanaey 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.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.