hyssop

The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated in English as “hyssop” is translated in Lokạạ as yisoki. Yisoki “is the name of a local bitter herb that is used for ritual cleansing in the traditional religion. It was, therefore, perceived by the translators as functionally adequate for ‘hyssop.’ The translation is thus symbolic in that it uses an indigenous Lokạạ botanical term and simultaneously indexical in that the translators believed that the translation points to the functional significance of the incipient term.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

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 Leviticus 14:4

The priest shall command them: literally “the priest shall command and he shall take….” The Revised Standard Version rendering actually follows a slightly different text which reads “… and they shall take….” In either case, the identity of the person or persons referred to by this pronoun is uncertain. But it is clearly indefinite as in 8.31 and 9.21. The Good News Translation rendering with a passive verb is not helpful to those languages where passives are not used. If an indefinite third person singular or plural pronoun can be used naturally in such a context in the receptor language, then it should be used here. Otherwise it may be necessary to say something like “the priest shall order someone to bring….”

For him who is to be cleansed: Good News Translation leaves this information implicit. But the text makes clear that these actions are to be performed by one or more unnamed individuals on behalf of the diseased person.

Two living clean birds: the two birds that are to be brought must meet two requirements: (1) they must still be alive when they are presented; and (2) they must not be from among those birds that were considered ritually unacceptable by the Jews (see 11.13-19). If the receptor language requires a distinction between large birds and small ones, the word for “small birds” should probably be used here. Note that Good News Translation leaves implicit the fact that the birds must be alive when presented. However, it is probably advisable to make this explicit in the receptor language.

Cedarwood: In many languages it will be necessary to know what quantity of wood or what size “piece” is intended. While we cannot be certain, probably it was a piece that could be carried in one hand of a single individual. In those languages where cedar trees are unknown, it may be necessary to use a more general expression like “a piece of wood with a strong smell” or something similar.

Scarlet stuff: the word translated scarlet here normally refers to “dark red cloth.” The other word literally means the worm or insect (called “cochineal”) which produces a dark red color used as a dye. In this context the entire expression is thought to refer to a kind of string (An American Translation), thread (Moffatt), yarn (New International Version, New American Bible), or cord (Good News Translation) which was dark red in color. If the receptor language makes such distinctions naturally, the color should be stated as “dark red.” Otherwise the closest natural equivalent will have to be considered adequate.

Hyssop: New English Bible and Moffatt render this word as “marjoram,” but most versions retain the traditional rendering hyssop. In some languages it will be necessary to say “a branch of hyssop,” or “a stick of hyssop,” or “a plant called hyssop.” Where hyssop is unknown, it may be necessary to transliterate the word and give a full explanation in the glossary.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .