3So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel.
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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-mae (御前) or “before (God)” in the referenced verses. In some cases in can also be used in reference to being before a king, such as in 1 Samuel 16:16.
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, 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 (Dinė) 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.”
So translates the common Hebrew conjunction, but the context seems to require a logical connector such as this since it introduces the result of what the people had expressed in verses 1 and 2. King James Version uses the connector “Therefore” to show the logical relationship.
All the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron: This clause does not express a different encounter from the gathering referred to in verse 1. It is rather a continuation and elaboration of the scene already set in verses 1 and 2. So a literal rendering of this passage might give the reader or hearer a false impression. Contemporary English Version seeks to avoid a possible misunderstanding by translating the beginning of verse 1 as “Israel’s leaders met with David at Hebron.” But as was noted in the discussion on 1 Chr 11.1, the writer there refers to “all Israel” and not just to the leaders. A possible model might be to begin verse 3 with a temporal clause such as “When all the elders of Israel had come in this way to King David at Hebron.”
The elders of Israel were probably the male heads of clans or families and were the leaders of the people of Israel (compare Exo 3.16; Josh 7.6). Israelite society was structured along patriarchal family lines. The Hebrew noun for elders comes from another noun meaning “beard.” Old age is only one semantic component of the word elders. The notions of leadership and respect are also very important.
Instead of using only the title the king in the first clause of this verse and the proper name David in the next one, it may be better in some languages to say “King David” the first time and then use a pronoun (so Good News Translation).
And David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD: Made a covenant is literally “cut a covenant” (Knoppers), but a literal translation will not make sense in most other languages. A covenant is an agreement that two persons or groups of persons make in which both promise either to do or not to do certain things. In the ancient Near Eastern world of the Old Testament, animals were sacrificed and cut up as part of the covenant-making ceremony. From this comes the technical phrase “cut a covenant.” The purpose of this particular covenant is not stated. It may have been between God and the king with his subjects to be God’s people. Or it may have been an agreement that David would treat the people of Israel in the same manner that he treated the people of Judah. The Hebrew expression rendered with them may be translated “for them” (Johnstone), but the meaning of such a translation is not clear. Nearly all translations say “with them.” Before the LORD means that Yahweh was a witness to the solemn agreement that was made. This phrase may be expressed as “to call the Lord as witness” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy; similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Since God was a witness to the making of the covenant, Good News Translation renders this whole clause as “He made a sacred alliance.” It is also possible that the ark of the covenant was present in Hebron, which would mean that the Israelites believed the LORD was there (see the comments on 1 Chr 6.31).
And they anointed David king over Israel: Anointing consisted of pouring oil or rubbing ointment on a person’s head; it symbolized the coming of God’s spirit on the person who was seen as chosen by God (other references to anointing include Exo 28.41; 29.7; 2 Sam 2.4). Throughout the Old Testament kings are often called “the LORD’s anointed” (see, for example, 1 Sam 24.6, 10; 26.9). For this clause International Children’s Bible says “The leaders poured olive oil on David to appoint him king over Israel.”
According to the word of the LORD by Samuel: By Samuel is literally “by the hand of Samuel” (so Chouraqui). Samuel was the intermediary through whom the promise of Yahweh had come. Revised English Bible translates “through the lips of Samuel,” but many other English versions say simply “through Samuel” (New Century Version, New American Standard Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).
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 .
11:3a So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron,
So all the leaders of Israel gathered in ⌊the town of⌋ Hebron where ⌊the future⌋ king David was. -or-
So, all the leaders of Israel came to king David. (Easy English Bible)
11:3b where David made a covenant with them before the LORD.
And David made a sacred agreement with them while Yahweh was listening. (Translation for Translators) -or-
David made an agreement with the leaders in Hebron and asked Yahweh to be their witness.
11:3c And they anointed him king over Israel,
There they anointed David as king over Israel. -or-
Then they poured oil on David to show that he was king over all Israel. (Easy English Bible)
11:3d according to the word of the LORD through Samuel.
It happened just as Yahweh had promised Samuel. -or-
Yahweh had said ⌊through the prophet⌋ Samuel that this would happen.
11:3c–d (combined/re-ordered)
Then the leaders anointed David king over Israel as Yahweh had promised Samuel.
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