gentiles

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The Greek that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).

Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).

See also nations.

Translation commentary on 1 Maccabees 4:52 - 4:54

We will follow Good News Bible‘s reordering of verses 52-54, since it is easier to use. There will be a model for these verses at the end of the discussion. The scene changes here, so it will be helpful to begin a new paragraph.

Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth year: In the model given below, Early in the morning (omitted in Good News Bible) will be moved to the third sentence. For the month of Chislev, see the comments on 1Macc 1.54. The one hundred and forty-eighth year corresponds to 164 b.c.

At the very season and on the very day: Good News Bible has “the anniversary of the day.” It would be fine to identify it as the third anniversary, or we may say “Exactly three years earlier” (Contemporary English Version).

That the Gentiles had profaned it may be expressed as “the Gentiles had made the altar unfit for worship.”

They rose and offered sacrifice: The pronoun they refers to the priests, and it will be helpful to make this explicit. Rose translates a Hebrew idiom, which may be omitted in translation without harm. This clause may be rendered “the priests came and offered a sacrifice,” “… came and sacrificed an animal,” or even “… killed an animal and offered.”

As the law directs means that the sacrifice was carried out according to the precise regulations given in the Law of Moses (see the comments on verse 47).

On the new altar of burnt offering which they had built: Good News Bible identifies the altar of burnt offering at verse 44 as the “altar of burnt offerings,” and calls it simply the “altar” here. Translators may follow Good News Bible unless there is a danger that readers will confuse this altar with the altar of incense inside the Temple (verses 49-50).

It was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals: For dedicated see the comments on verse 36. This verb may be rendered “put into use for the first time.” Harps and lutes are stringed instruments played by plucking the strings with the fingers. The Greek word for lutes is the same one rendered “harp” in 1Macc 3.45. Scholars cannot distinguish the Greek words for harps and lutes with confidence. Two such instruments are referred to in Psa 92.3, and translators may wish to consult their rendering of that passage. Since we have here Greek terms for Hebrew terms that are obscure in themselves, it is impossible to be precise. One term for a plucked stringed instrument would suffice in translation. The Greek word for cymbals refers to pairs of bronze disks that were struck together. They might be large (15-17 centimeters, or about 7 inches), making a clashing sound like modern cymbals, or small, making a tinkling sound. Again we have the problem of a Greek term for an obscure Hebrew term, and again confident accuracy is not possible.

We suggest the following alternative model for this verse:

• Then the twenty-fifth day of the month Kislev arrived. It was the year 148 of the Syrian Kingdom, exactly three years after the Gentiles had desecrated the altar [or, made the altar unfit for worship]. Early in the morning the priests came and offered a sacrifice on the new altar that they had built. It was all done just as the Law directed. As they put the altar into use for the first time, the people sang hymns and [musicians] played harps, lutes, and cymbals.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.