witness

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “witness” in English is translated as “truly have seen” in Highland Popoluca, as “telling the truth regarding something” (Eastern Highland Otomi), as “know something” in Lalana Chinantec, as “verily know something to be the truth” in San Mateo del Mar Huave, as “we ourselves saw this,” in Desano, as “tell the truth about something” in Eastern Highland Otomi, as “know something is true because of seeing it” in Teutila Cuicatec. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

Zechariah (prophet)

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Zechariah” is translated in Swiss-German Sign Language with a sign that depicts predicting the future.


“Zechariah” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

Following is a Russian Orthodox icon of Zechariah from the 18th century (found in the Transfiguration Church, Kizhi Monastery, Karelia, Russia).

 
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )

priest

Click here to view graphically

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 8:2

And I got reliable witness … to attest for me: Two men witnessed Isaiah’s actions. There has been much discussion regarding the form of the Hebrew verb here. The differing opinions can be found in the various translations. For some the Hebrew form suggests a future act (so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, New International Version, Contemporary English Version), but the context seems to imply a description of what Isaiah had actually done (so Revised Standard Version). Some think it should be treated as an imperative, as in the Septuagint (see Good News Translation, for example, where the words are part of the instructions given by the LORD). The weight of opinion is generally on the use of a past tense, indicating completed action. Note, however, that for me in Hebrew (left implicit in Good News Translation) could apply either to Isaiah or to the LORD, depending on how the verb form is understood here.

The Hebrew root meaning “witness” appears twice here, once as a verb and once as a noun. Isaiah called, or is told to call, two persons whose testimony would be trustworthy. Their presence would make the tablet an official document, presumably giving it more weight. What exactly these people were to witness is impossible to tell; it could be the fact that Isaiah wrote the message, or it could be the message itself. Translators should try to reflect this uncertainty if possible. Witnesses may be rendered as a verb by translating this verse as follows: “I got two reliable persons: the priest … I asked them to see [for themselves] what I was doing.”

Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah: Only the first person is mentioned elsewhere; see 2 Kgs 16.10-16. Isaiah refers to Uriah as the priest since he was the high priest during the reign of King Ahaz. Since the priests were in charge of sacrifices and other duties at the Temple, possible renderings for priest are “sacrificer” and “one who offers sacrifices.”

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• So I called two witnesses who could be relied upon, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. They witnessed for me.

• So I asked Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah to serve as reliable witnesses for me.

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 .