priest

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.

Aaron

The name that is transliterated as “Aaron” in English is translated in Catalan Sign Language and Spanish Sign Language as “stones on chest plate” (according to Exodus 28:15-30) (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff.)


“Aaron” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In Colombian Sign Language, Honduras Sign Language, and American Sign Language, the chest plate is outlined (in ASL it is outlined using the letter “A”):


“Aaron” in ASL (source )

See also Moses and this lectionary in The Christian Century .

Translation commentary on Numbers 3:10

And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood: The point of this whole verse is that only Aaron and his sons will be priests, and nobody else. This is clearly implied in the Hebrew construction of this sentence, which is literally “And Aaron and his sons [that is, nobody else] you shall appoint, and they shall keep their priesthood.” New Revised Standard Version renders the first clause of this verse as “But you shall make a register of Aaron and his descendants.” The Hebrew verb rendered appoint (paqad) is the same one translated “number” in 1.3 (see the comments there). But here there are only three people (Aaron and his two remaining sons) that Moses needs to enroll. There are no other “descendants” yet. This verb can also mean “appoint, entrust with an official duty, assign” (The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, volume 3, page 956), which is the sense it has here. New Revised Standard Version renders this verb as “assign” in 4.32. Good News Translation renders and they shall attend to their priesthood as “to carry out the duties of the priesthood,” which may be an easier model to follow. A good model for this whole sentence is “But you shall appoint [only] Aaron and his sons; it is they [alone] who shall perform the duties of [my] priests.”

But if any one else comes near is literally “and the stranger/foreigner/outsider who approaches/encroaches.” See the comments on 1.51. The conjunction but may be needed in some languages to indicate the contrastive warning that follows. Good News Translation indicates this break in thought by not using any conjunction. Good News Translation renders this clause as “anyone else who tries to do so,” which means “anyone else who tries to be a priest.” Particularly after the brief story about Nadab and Abihu in verse 4 and in line with 1.51, it is also accurate to say “any lay person who encroaches on it” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Milgrom). New International Version says “anyone else who approaches the sanctuary,” but this rendering may imply that even the Levites are intruders.

He shall be put to death: See 1.51.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .