Many translators will find, like Good News Translation, that it is not natural to use the words hands and arms to speak of the whole person. The purpose of the instruction must often be expressed as a verb; for example, “He teaches me how to fight” or “He shows me the way to make war.”

A bow of bronze would be very heavy, and only a strong man would be able to use it. But since a bronze bow would be a rather unusual weapon, some commentators think that the language refers rather to a bow that shoots arrows tipped with bronze (see Job 20.24b, where the words may mean either a bronze bow or a bronze arrow). Revised English Bible speaks of a “bronze-tipped bow.” It seems best here to say “a bronze bow” or “a bow made of bronze.” If the bow is known but bronze is not, it may be helpful to translate “so that I can bend a metal bow” or perhaps “… an iron bow.” The intensifying effect may best be expressed as “He trains me to fight; but, more than that, he even enables me to bend a metal bow.” Some common language versions (Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, and Good News Translation) drop the specific reference to the metal and translate simply “the strongest bow.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .