In many, if not most of the languages in the Philippines, proper nouns, such as personal names, are tagged with a marker that signals their grammatical role within a sentence. For Tagalog and the Visayan languages , this typically includes si to mark the proper noun as the actor or subject (nominative case), ni to mark the proper noun as an owner (genitive case), and kay to mark the proper noun as as an indirect object, i.e. the one to or toward whom an action is directed (dative case). All of these also have plural forms — sina, nina and kina respectively — and unlike in the biblical languages or in English, the plural form has to be used when only a single proper name is mentioned but implicitly that proper name includes more than just one.
In this verse, where English translates “David (took the stronghold of Zion),” the Tagalog translation translates “nina David” because the context of the text makes clear that it was David along with troops who took the stronghold. (Source: Kermit Titrud and Steve Quakenbush)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 11:5:
Kupsabiny: “The Jebusites said to David, ‘You will never enter into this city!’ In spite of that, David took the fortified home/palace on the hill of Zion where it later came to be called the City of David.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The Jebusites said to David, "You will never be able to enter this city!" But David conquered their fortress of Zion. So people call that city "The city of David."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “said to David, ‘You (plur.) can- not really -get-inside here in Jerusalem.’ But David and company indeed captured the heavily-guarded-place/fortress of Zion, which was-called later the City of David.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Those people said to David, ‘Your soldiers will not be able to get inside our city!’ But David’s soldiers captured the city, even though it had strong walls around it, and since then it has been called ‘The City of David’.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here”: It is probable that the quotation here was not actually something that the people of Jebus spoke directly to David but rather a message that was conveyed to him by intermediaries. You will not come in here is a literal translation of the Hebrew. In this context the Hebrew words seem to be a boast, so it is appropriate to say “You cannot invade this place” ( NET Bible). New Living Translation says “You’ll never get in here,” and New Century Version is similar with “You can’t get inside our city.” Most translations take the Hebrew as a boast, but it is also possible to interpret the Hebrew here to be a plea to David and his army by saying “Do not come in here.” The adverb here refers to the city of Jebus and is rendered “our city” by New Century Version and Bible en français courant for the sake of clarity. The direct quotation may have to be rendered indirectly in certain languages (so Good News Translation).
Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion: David and his army captured the city in spite of the Jebusites’ firm belief that he would be unable to do so and in spite of their resistance. This event is described in greater detail in the next verse. Nevertheless translates the common Hebrew conjunction, and the context clearly requires a transition word that marks contrast.
The Hebrew term for stronghold refers generally to a fortified place (see 1 Sam 22.4). Here and in the parallel text of 2 Sam 5.7 it refers specifically to the part of Jerusalem which was strongly fortified and very difficult to capture. Originally the name Zion referred to the fortress built on the southeastern ridge of what later became the city of Jerusalem. Later it referred both to the Temple area that Solomon built immediately to the north of the fortress (see Psa 2.6; 78.68) and to the entire city of Jerusalem (see Isa 2.3). For the latter usage Good News Translation often uses the more common name “Jerusalem” when the Hebrew says “Zion,” as in Isa 1.8 and Psa 69.35.
That is, the city of David: Since the readers would have been quite familiar with the expression the city of David, it was added to make it clear that Jerusalem was intended. But because Jerusalem was not referred to in this way at the time of its capture, Good News Translation fills in the information that this was a later name by saying “it became known as ‘David’s City.’ ” Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente similarly says “which was later called ‘City of David.’ ” Other translations include “now known as the City of David” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) and “named thereafter City of David” (Bible en français courant). In the Old Testament the city of David refers to a specific part of what later became the larger city of Jerusalem. That part is the long, narrow, triangular-shaped ridge located below the Temple mount on the southern end of the eastern ridge (see, for example, Neh 3.15). The eastern ridge and the western ridge of Jerusalem are divided by the Tyropoeon Valley.
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 .
11:5a The people of Jebus said to David, “You will never get in here.”
They said to David ⌊and those who were with him⌋ , “You(pl) will not be able to come into our city ⌊because we won’t let you.⌋ ” -or-
The Jebusites told David, that he ⌊and his people⌋ would not be able to enter their city.
11:5b Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion
But David did defeat them. He took over the fortress of Zion (English Easy-to-Read Version), -or-
David ⌊and his people fought hard⌋ . They won the very strong building ⌊in the part of the city called⌋ Zion.
11:5c (that is, the City of David).
and it became the City of David (English Easy-to-Read Version). -or-
⌊After that⌋ it was called ‘the city ⌊that belongs to⌋ David.’
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