Sabbath

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “Sabbath” in English is rendered as “day we rest” in Tzotzil, in Mairasi as “Jew’s Rest Day,” in Quiotepec Chinantec as “day when people of Israel rested,” in Shilluk as “day of God,” in Obolo as Usen Mbuban or “Holy Day,” and in Mandarin Chinese as ānxírì (安息日) or “rest day” (literally: “peace – rest – day”).

(Sources: Tzotzil: Marion Cowan in Notes on Translation with Drill, p. 169ff; Mairasi: Enggavoter 2004; Quiotepec Chinantec: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.; Shilluk: Nida 1964, p. 237; Obolo: Enene Enene; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)

In the old Khmer version as well as in the first new translation this term was rendered as “day of rest” (Thngai Chhup Somrak / ​ថ្ងៃ​ឈប់​សំរាក). Considered inadequate to convey its religious meaning (not only about cessation of work, but also in honor of Yahweh as the Creator), the committee for the Today’s Khmer Version (publ. 2005) decided to keep the Hebrew word and use its transliterated form Thgnai Sabath (​ថ្ងៃ​សប្ប័ទ). “The Buddhist word Thngai Seil ‘day of merits’ used by some Catholics was once under consideration but was rejected because it did not receive unanimous support.” (Source: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 233ff.)

In Spanish, the translation is either día de reposo (“day of rest”) or sábado (usually: “Saturday,” derived from the Greek and Hebrew original. Nida (1947, p. 239f.) explains that problem for Spanish and other languages in its sphere of influence: “In translation ‘Sabbath’ into various aboriginal languages of Latin America, a considerable number of translators have used the Spanish sábado, ‘Saturday,’ because it is derived from the Hebrew sabbath and seems to correspond to English usage as well. The difficulty is that sábado means only ‘Saturday’ for most people. There is no religious significance about this word as the is with ‘Sabbath’ in English. Accordingly the [readers] cannot understand the significance of the persecution of Jesus because he worked on ‘Saturday.’ It has been found quite advantageous to use the translation ‘day of rest,’ for this accurately translated the Hebrew meaning of the term and resolves the problem in connection with the prohibitions placed upon some types of activities.”

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts closing of the blinds of a store:


“Sabbath” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

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), ‘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 Ezekiel 22:26

Her priests have done violence to my law …: The second group that God attacks are Israel’s priests (compare Zeph 3.4). Priests were the men who performed religious ceremonies and sacrifices, and they stood before God on behalf of the people (see 1.3). If translators have no word for someone who fills this role in their culture, they may say “ceremony men,” “sacrificers,” or “people who come before me for the people.” They have done violence to my law may mean they were breaking the laws of Moses (so Good News Translation) or they were interpreting the laws wrongly for their own gain (so Revised English Bible with “give rulings which violate my law” [similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch]). The Hebrew verb rendered have done violence is a very strong term that usually refers to social injustice and oppression (see the comments on 7.11, where the noun translated “Violence” comes from the same root), so the second interpretation is preferable. Translators may render this clause as “Israel’s priests have distorted my law” or .”.. have twisted my law [for their own benefit].”

And have profaned my holy things: The Hebrew verb rendered profaned means to make something ritually unclean (see 7.21), in this case by using it wrongly. My holy things refers to the sacred objects of the Temple and the sacrifices and donations that the people had given to God (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch); some translations take this phrase to refer to the Temple itself (so New Jerusalem Bible), but this is less likely. Translators may render this clause as “and they have taken the things meant for my service and made them unfit for my service.”

They have made no distinction between the holy and the common: One of the main tasks of the priests was to keep apart holy things, that is, those that were set apart for God’s use, and common things, those that were for ordinary use. God accuses them of not doing this. Translators may say “They make no distinction between things meant for me and the things that are ordinary.”

Neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean: As well as distinguishing between the sacred and the ordinary, and keeping them apart, the priests were supposed to teach the people to distinguish between the things that were ritually unclean (see 4.13) and those that were ritually clean. This also they were not doing. Translators may say “They also have not taught the people the difference between things that are not fit for my service and those that are.”

And they have disregarded my sabbaths is literally “and they have hidden their eyes from my sabbaths” (similarly New International Version, King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). This figurative expression means more than simply to “ignore” (Good News Translation), “pay no attention to” (New American Bible) or “not remember” (New Century Version) the Sabbath, although that is part of it. Not only did the priests “treat my Sabbath like any other day” (Contemporary English Version), but they also did not encourage the people to keep it as they were supposed to (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch with “they did not care when the Sabbath was being desecrated”). Translators may say “They did not pay any attention to people when they did not follow my laws for the day of rest.” Again the priests were not fulfilling their God-given tasks. For sabbaths see 20.12.

So that I am profaned among them: When the priests did not fulfil their tasks properly, the result was that the whole nation failed to obey God properly. Since it is difficult to speak of making God profaned, that is, defiled or unclean, it is better to translate this clause as “As a result the people of Israel do not respect me” (Good News Translation) or “and so my people no longer honor me” (Contemporary English Version).

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .