The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Saul” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign that depicts “sword in chest” (referring to 1 Samuel 31:4 and 1 Chronicles 10:4) and also “self-centered.” (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 10:5:
Kupsabiny: “When that man who was carrying the things of battle for Saul saw that Saul was dead, he also drew his own sword and fell on it.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Seeing that Saul had died, the weapons bearer also killed himself.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “When his armor bearer saw that he was now dead he too stabbed himself with his own sword, and he died too.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “When the man carrying his weapons saw that Saul was dead, he also threw himself on his own sword and died.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword, and died is literally “And his armor-bearer saw that Saul had died, and he fell, he also, on the sword and died.” Instead of repeating the words his armor-bearer, which have already been used twice in the previous verse, Good News Translation says “The young man.” Good News Translation also slightly restructures the verse by changing the initial temporal clause in Revised Standard Version into the main clause and the main clause of Revised Standard Version into a result clause. Translators should feel free to follow whichever structure sounds more natural in the receptor language.
As in the previous verse, Good News Translation renders fell upon his sword as “threw himself on his sword” in order to avoid the idea of an accidental fall. As in the previous verse, some languages may prefer to avoid focusing on the precise method of suicide by rendering the last half of this verse as “he also took his sword and used it to kill himself.” Contemporary English Version provides a natural model with “he killed himself in the same way.” His sword is literally “the sword.” It is not clear whether the young man killed himself with his own sword or with Saul’s sword. Some versions say “his own sword” (New Living Translation, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje), and this seems more likely the intended meaning.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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