priest

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), ‘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.

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 4:2

The Hebrew noun rendered high officials designates persons who are officials or leaders, and the context specifies the nature of their role as leaders. The translation “ministres” in certain French versions (Nouvelle version Segond révisée, La Bible du Semeur) is intended to show that these officials were very high ranking in the court of the king.

Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest: The genealogies given for the family of Zadok and Azariah in 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles differ. According to 2 Sam 15.27 and 36, Ahimaaz was the son of Zadok; and according to 1 Chr 6.9-10 (1 Chr 5.34-35 in the Masoretic Text), Azariah was the son of Ahimaaz. So it is not clear whether Azariah was literally the son of Zadok or whether this should be translated “the grandson of Zadok” (as in La Bible du Semeur).

The second half of this verse is literally “Azariah the son of Zadok the priest.” Nearly all translations understand this to mean that Azariah himself was a priest as was his father Zadok. Unlike Zadok, Abiathar, and Zabud, who are called “priests” in verses 4 and 5, Azariah is called the priest. Use of the definite article may indicate that Azariah was the head of the priests in Jerusalem (compare 1 Kgs 1.7, 8).

At the beginning of the next verse, most translations take the name “Elihoreph” to be a proper name with the possible meaning “My God is autumn.” But the name “Elihoreph” is not otherwise known in the Old Testament. With a slight change in spelling, the name is changed to a Hebrew word meaning “over the autumn.” Revised English Bible has corrected the name “Elihoreph” in this way and has made it part of verse 2. Since the Hebrew New Year began in the autumn, the sense would be that Azariah was in charge of the calendar, which regulated the seasons and festivals. Such an office is known to have existed in other ancient Near Eastern countries. Revised English Bible translates the second half of this verse as “In charge of the calendar: Azariah son of Zadok the priest.” But since no manuscript support exists for such a change of the Masoretic Text, translators should follow the Masoretic Text, as do most translations.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .