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 Isaiah 24:2

The previous verse spoke about physical destruction, but this one refers to social disruption. In this verse the Hebrew particle ke rendered “as with” and “so with” is used twelve times. This creates a powerful sound rhythm, which should be maintained in translation if possible. This particle is used to compare six pairs of contrasting groups of people. Whatever happens to one member of a group will happen to the other. There will be no exceptions. All the singular nouns here have a collective sense, referring to classes of people. Translators can render them as plurals if necessary. In addition, these groups are used as examples—together they represent the whole society. The coming destruction will affect everyone. If that feature of the list here is not clear to readers, translators may begin the verse with a summary statement such as “What is going to happen will affect everyone.” This is what Good News Translation does with “Everyone will meet the same fate.” Translators should find a striking way to render the six comparisons here. One possibility is “It will be the same for … as it will be for….”

And it shall be is a literal rendering of the Hebrew text. Translators may say “What will happen is.”

As with the people, so with the priest: In Israelite society there was a major division between the priests and the common people. For priest see the comments at 8.2.

As with the slave, so with his master, as with the maid, so with her mistress: There was also a division between slaves and masters. In Hebrew the words rendered slave and master are masculine, while those translated maid and mistress are feminine. So both male and female slaves are compared with their respective male and female masters. See Psa 123.2, where these same four terms appear together; see also 14.2, where the Hebrew words for slave and maid are rendered “male and female slaves.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch balances these lines well by saying “master and male servant, mistress and female servant.”

As with the buyer, so with the seller: Buyers and sellers form another division in society.

As with the lender, so with the borrower, as with the creditor, so with the debtor: These two parallel lines refer to the wealthier and poorer members of society. The poor borrow from the rich. In some languages it may be necessary to combine these two lines due to the vocabulary available.

For the translation of this verse we suggest the following examples:

• [Everyone in society will be affected.]
It will be the same for the people as it will be for the priests,
the same for servants as for their masters,
the same for maids as for their mistresses,
the same for buyers as for sellers,
the same for lenders as for borrowers,
the same for creditors as for debtors.

• It will be the same
whether one is an ordinary person or a priest,
whether a servant or a master,
whether a maid or a mistress,
whether a buyer or a seller,
whether a lender or a borrower,
whether a creditor or a debtor.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .