29and after twisting some thorns into a crown they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
The Hebrew and Aramaic that is translated in English as “long live” or “live forever” and the Greek that is translated as “Hail” in English is translated in Mandarin Chinese as wànsuì (万岁 / 萬歲) or “(may you live) 10,000 years” which was used to hail Chinese emperors and, more recently, the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong (Máo Zhǔxí Wànsuì [毛主席万岁] or “May Chairman Mao live for ten thousand years!”).
Likewise it is also used in these verses in other East Asian languages, including Japanese with ban zai (ばんざい / 万歳), Korean with man se (만세), Vietnamese with vạn tuế or muôn tuổi, or Mongolian with mandtugai (мандтугай). (Note that Mongolian does not use that term for the New Testament renderings.) (Source: Zetzsche)
For more information on this phrase, see 10,000 years .
The Greek that is translated as “King of the Jews” in most English translations is translated in Noongar as Djelyib moortakang Judea-kang or “King of the people of Judea.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
The Greek that is translated in English as “kneel” or “fall down” or “worship” are translated in Chichicapan Zapotec as bazuꞌnllihbi or “stand on knees.” (Source: Joseph Benton in OPTAT 1989/2, p. 65ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 27:29:
Uma: “They made a hat from thorny vines like a king’s hat, and they put it on him. They also gave him a staff in his right hand, like the staff a king holds, and they knelt in front of him, they said: ‘Greetings, King of the Yahudi people!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “They twisted thorny vines making-them like a crown of a king and placed them on Isa’s head. Then they caused Isa to hold a stick in his right hand. After that they prostrated pretending to honor him and they said, ‘Assalamu alaikum, King of the Yahudi.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And they wove a thorny vine to crown him with, and they put it on his head. And they made him hold a staff in his right hand, and they knelt down pretending to honor him. And they said to him, ‘Greetings, King of the Jews!'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “They also wove thorns which they put-on-him -as-a-crown. They also got a reed and caused-it-to-be-held in his right hand. After that they knelt in front of him, and they mocked him saying, ‘Live-and-live you (sing.) who are the King of the Jews!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “And then what those soldiers did was, they made a circle of a thorny plant for they made a crown of it. And then they used it as a crown for Jesus. They caused his right hand to hold a stick which was like it was the sign of kingship. And then they mocked him bowing down and giving him honor, saying, ‘Good morning to the King of the Judio!'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “The soldiers had woven a crown of thorns and they put it on the head of Jesus. They placed a stick in his right hand. An they knelt in front of Jesus as though they truly honored him as a king. They mocked him then and said: ‘Supreme is the king of the Jews,’ they said.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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:
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.”
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