The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is transliterated as “Gomorrah” in English is transliterated in Mandarin Chinese as émólā (蛾摩拉) in the Protestant tradition. This is an interesting transliteration because the first character é (蛾) has a negative connotation with the meaning of “moth.” This character is only used here in the Protestant Chinese Bible. For many other transliterations the more neutral character 俄 with the same pronunciation is used. (Source: Zetzsche)
complete verse (Genesis 14:2)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 14:2:
- Newari: “attacked Bera King of Sodom, Birsha King of Gomorrah, Shinab King of Admah, Shemeber King of Zeboiim, and the King of Bela (later [called] Zoar).” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “fought against King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomora, King Shinab of Adma, King Shemeber of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela who is also called Zoar.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- English: “In an area to the west, there were five other kings. They were King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, the city that is now called Zoar.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
king
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:
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- Piro: “a great one”
- Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
- Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
- Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
- Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
- Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
- 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 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.”
(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )
Translation commentary on Genesis 14:2
These kings made war: these kings is supplied by Revised Standard Version. Hebrew has no subject for the verb other than the four kings. If the translator follows Good News Translation and others, the subject of made war will be “the four kings.” Made war must sometimes be expressed as “fought against” or “attacked.” In some languages it may be necessary to bring information given later in the text to this point for an adequate translation; for example, “the four kings joined together and went to fight against….”
The names of the kings in verse 2 are not repeated in verse 8, but only their cities. By contrast the names of the four attacking kings are repeated in verse 9, but in a different order than in Gen 14.1. For comments on Sodom and Gomorrah, see 10.19; 13.10. The names Bera and Birsha mean “with evil” and “with wickedness” respectively. See “Names in Genesis” in “Translating Genesis,” page 8.
For Admah and Zeboim see 10.19, and for Zoar see 13.10. The names of the five cities appear together only here. Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim occur together in Deut 29.23. Elsewhere Admah and Zeboim occur together only in Hos 11.8. The names of the five kings are found only here. Bela may be an older name for Zoar, but this is uncertain. (Gen 19.20-22 may provide an explanation for giving the city a new name.) Although the leaders named are city rulers, they are referred to as “kings,” the same as for the rulers of nations in Gen 14.1.
Since there is a repetition of the sense of made war later in the text, some translators may wish to make verses 1-2 a kind of opening summary statement or title for the whole story; for example, “(1-2) At that time there was a war in which…. (3-4) It happened like this:….”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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