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Verse: 2 Esdras 10:22
et psalterium nostrum humiliatum est et hymnus noster conticuit et exultatio nostra dissoluta est, et lumen candelabri nostri extinctum est et arca testamenti nostri direpta est et sancta nostra contaminata sunt, et nomen quod nominatum est super nos paene profanatum est, et liberi nostri contumeliam passi sunt, et sacerdotes nostri succensi sunt et Levitae nostri in captivitate abierunt, et virgines nostrae coinquinatae sunt et mulieres nostrae vim passae sunt, et iusti nostri rapti sunt et parvuli nostri proditi sunt, et iuvenes nostri servierunt et fortes nostri invalidi facti sunt.
22our harp has been laid low, our song has been silenced, and our rejoicing has been ended; the light of our lampstand has been put out, the ark of our covenant has been plundered, our holy things have been polluted, and the name by which we are called has been almost profaned; our children have suffered abuse, our priests have been burned to death, our Levites have gone into exile, our virgins have been defiled, and our wives have been ravished; our righteous men have been carried off, our little ones have been cast out, our young men have been enslaved and our strong men made powerless.
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: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Levite” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin that is sometimes translated as “ark of the covenant” in English (other English options: “pact chest” [translation by John Goldingay, 2018] or “Coffer of the Covenant” [translation by Everett Fox, 1995]) is translated in various ways:
Mairasi: Anasi Farjora or “Covenant Place” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
In American Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines “box” and the wings of the cherubim on top of the ark (see Exod 25:18 and following). (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Ark of the covenant” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
Natügu: nzesz’tikr drtwr: “oneness of mind” (source: Brenda Boerger in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 164)
Tagalog: tipan: mutual promising on the part of two persons agreeing to do something (also has a romantic touch and denotes something secretive) (source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
Tagbanwa: “initiated-agreement” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Guhu-Samane: “The concept [in Mark 14:24 and Matthew 16:28] is not easy, but the ritual freeing of a fruit and nut preserve does afford some reference. Thus, ‘As they were drinking he said to them, ‘On behalf of many this poro provision [poro is the traditional religion] of my blood is released.’ (…) God is here seen as the great benefactor and man the grateful recipient.” (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
Law (2013, p. 95) writes about how the Ancient GreekSeptuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew berith was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):
“Right from the start we witness the influence of the Septuagint on the earliest expressions of the Christian faith. In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of his blood being a kaine diatheke, a ‘new covenant.’ The covenant is elucidated in Hebrews 8:8-12 and other texts, but it was preserved in the words of Jesus with this language in Luke 22:20 when at the Last Supper Jesus said, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Jesus’s blood was to provide the grounds for the ‘new covenant,’ in contrast to the old one his disciples knew from the Jewish scriptures (e.g., Jeremiah 31:31-34). Thus, the earliest Christians accepted the Jewish Scriptures as prophecies about Jesus and in time began to call the collection the ‘Old Testament’ and the writings about Jesus and early Christianity the ‘New Testament,’ since ‘testament’ was another word for ‘covenant.’ The covenant promises of God (berith in Hebrew) were translated in the Septuagint with the word diatheke. In classical Greek diatheke had meant ‘last will, testament,’ but in the Septuagint it is the chosen equivalent for God’s covenant with his people. The author of Hebrews plays on the double meaning, and when Luke records Jesus’ announcement at the Last Supper that his blood was instituting a ‘new covenant,’ or a ‘new testament,’ he is using the language in an explicit contrast with the old covenant, found in the Jewish scriptures. Soon, the writings that would eventually be chosen to make up the texts about the life and teachings of Jesus and the earliest expression of the Christian faith would be called the New Testament. This very distinction between the Old and New Testaments is based on the Septuagint’s language.”
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).
“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.
The Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms that are translated in English mostly as “righteous” as an adjective or personified noun or “righteousness” (also as “justice”) are most commonly expressed with concept of “straightness,” though this may be expressed in a number of ways. (Click or tap here to see the details)
Following is a list of (back-) translations of various languages:
Paasaal: “white heart” (source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
Nuer: “way of right” (“there is a complex concept of “right” vs. ‘left’ in Nuer where ‘right’ indicates that which is masculine, strong, good, and moral, and ‘left’ denotes what is feminine, weak, and sinful (a strictly masculine viewpoint!) The ‘way of right’ is therefore righteousness, but of course women may also attain this way, for the opposition is more classificatory than descriptive.”) (This and all above from Bratcher / Nida except for Bilua: Carl Gross; Tiv: Rob Koops; Muna: René van den Berg)
Yatzachi Zapotec: “walk straight” (source for this and four previous: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
Aari: The Pauline word for “righteous” is generally rendered by “makes one without sin” in the Aari, sometimes “before God” is added for clarity. (Source: Loren Bliese)
Ekari: maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (the same word that is also used for “truth“; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
Guhu-Samane: pobi or “right” (also: “right (side),” “(legal) right,” “straightness,” “correction,” “south,” “possession,” “pertinence,” “kingdom,” “fame,” “information,” or “speech” — “According to [Guhu-Samane] thinking there is a common core of meaning among all these glosses. Even from an English point of view the first five can be seen to be closely related, simply because of their similarity in English. However, from that point the nuances of meaning are not so apparent. They relate in some such a fashion as this: As one faces the morning sun, south lies to the right hand (as north lies to the left); then at one’s right hand are his possessions and whatever pertains to him; thus, a rich man’s many possessions and scope of power and influence is his kingdom; so, the rich and other important people encounter fame; and all of this spreads as information and forms most of the framework of the people’s speech.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in Notes on Translation 1964, p. 11ff.)
Our harp has been laid low, our song has been silenced, and our rejoicing has been ended: Our harp does not refer to one particular harp. It stands for all the musical instruments used in Temple worship, just as our song refers to all the vocal music, not one particular song. The harp is a stringed instrument with strings of unequal length. The musician plucks the strings by hand. Our rejoicing refers to the happiness with which the music was performed and heard. We may render these three clauses as “There is no more music or singing there. All our happy worship has ended.” Translators should also study Good News Bible‘s model.
The light of our lampstand has been put out: The lampstand was an ornamental stand with branches for holding seven oil lamps, which gave light in the Temple (see Exo 25.31-40; 37.17-24). Possible models for lampstand are “lamp holder” or “thing on which oil lamps were placed.” This clause may be rendered “the flames of the oil lamps on the sacred lamp holder have been put out.”
The ark of our covenant has been plundered: The ark of our covenant was the wooden chest in which the Israelites kept the text of God’s covenant with them, that is, the two stone tablets displaying the Ten Commandments (see the comments on 1 Esd 1.3; 2 Esd 2.5). Good News Bible translates this phrase as “our Covenant Box,” and Contemporary English Version has “the sacred chest.” The Latin verb for plundered means basically “destroyed,” and since the ark was wooden, translators may say “chopped to pieces.”
Our holy things have been polluted: Our holy things refers to other objects used during Temple worship, all of which were dedicated to God and thus holy (see, for example, Num 4.15). We may translate this phrase as “the things belonging to God” or even “the things that God considered his own.” Have been polluted means these objects were desecrated by enemies, that is, made unfit for worship.
And the name by which we are called has been profaned: The name by which we are called is Yahweh, the name of God (compare 2 Esd 4.25). Israel was known as Yahweh’s people. Their enemies profaned God’s name, that is, used it in unholy ways.
Our free men have suffered abuse: The Latin word for free men is ambiguous. Some versions prefer “children” (Revised Standard Version footnote, New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version). However, since “children” are mentioned later in this list as virgins, little ones and young men, this sense is unlikely here. Free men may be rendered “citizens,” but in this context probably refers to “noblemen” or “leading citizens” (compare Neh 2.16; 4.14; 5.7). Good News Bible says “leaders,” and Myers has “nobles.”
Our priests have been burned to death: For priests see the comments on 1 Esd 1.2. In languages that do not have the passive voice, this clause may be rendered “Our enemies have burned our priests to death.”
Our Levites have gone into captivity may be translated “Our Levites have been taken away to Babylonia” or “They took our Levites away to Babylonia.” But since Ezra was living in Babylonia, this clause may be expressed as “Our enemies brought our Levites here to Babylonia.” For Levites see the comments on 1 Esd 1.3.
Our virgins have been defiled, and our wives have been ravished: The verbs defiled and ravished both refer to rape in this context. Virgins may be rendered “daughters” or “young women” (Contemporary English Version) since they are presumed to be virgins until they become wives.
Our righteous men have been carried off: It is important to understand the point of view here. Ezra was in Babylonia, the place of exile, but the writer was in Judea. Our righteous men probably refers to the recognized leaders of the Jewish community. These men were singled out to be taken away from the land. This clause may be rendered “Our devout leaders were forced out of their land” or “They forced our leading faithful citizens to come here [to Babylonia].”
Our little ones have been cast out: The Latin word for little ones refers to babies. Have been cast out means they were left alone and exposed. This clause may be translated “Our babies were thrown away [or, abandoned]” or “They abandoned our babies.”
Our young men have been enslaved may be expressed as “Our young men have been forced to become slaves.”
And our strong men made powerless: The strong men, who were expected to defend the land, have had their power taken from them.
The first model of this verse keeps all the passive forms, while the second one puts them all into the active voice as follows:
• There is no more music there, no singing, no happy worship. That is all ended. There are no flames on our sacred lamp holder, the Covenant Box has been chopped to pieces, and all our other holy objects have been made unclean. The name of the God we worship has been profaned [or, is regarded as of no worth]. Our leading citizens have been abused [or, mistreated]. Our priests have been burned to death. Our Levites have been taken captive. Our young daughters and our wives have been raped. Our leading devout citizens have been forced out of the land. Our babies have been thrown away [or, abandoned], our young men taken into slavery, and our strong men made helpless.
• No one is playing music there anymore, no one is singing, and there are no more people worshiping happily. There are no more flames on our sacred oil lamps. Our enemies have chopped the Covenant Box to pieces, and have made all the other sacred objects [or, objects that belonged to the Lord] unclean [or, unfit for worship]. They have profaned [or, made of no worth] the name of the God whom we worship. They have mistreated our leading citizens. They have burned our priests to death. They have brought our Levites here to Babylonia as captives. They have raped our young daughters and our wives. They have forced our leading faithful citizens out of our land. They have abandoned our babies, and have brought our young men here as slaves. They have made our strong men powerless.
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.
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