38All these, warriors arrayed in battle order, came to Hebron with full intent to make David king over all Israel; likewise all the rest of Israel were of a single mind to make David king.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 12:38:
Kupsabiny: “All those people came to Hebron having been well prepared for battle. Those people were fully dedicated to anoint David for the rulership of Israel and all the people of Israel wanted that.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “All these soldiers, prepared for battle, had come to the city of Hebron to make David king over all Israel. The other people of Israel were also united by that same aim.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “All these were soldiers who volunteered to fight. They went to Hebron determined to make David king over all Israel. Almost all the Israelinhon really wanted David to become their king.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “All those men were soldiers who volunteered to be in David’s army. They came to Hebron wanting very much to enable David to be the king of all of the Israeli people.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, 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.”
Following the complete listing of the people who came over to David’s side at Hebron in verses 24-37, this verse repeats the essence of verse 23 at the beginning of the section.
All these, men of war, arrayed in battle order, came to Hebron with full intent …: The expression men of war may be rendered “warriors” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible), “fighting men” (New International Version, New Century Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), or simply “soldiers” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New American Bible). Arrayed in battle order is literally “flocked together in battle line.” The Hebrew verb rendered arrayed is the same one translated “help” in verse 33. The meaning for this whole clause is probably simply “ready to go to war” (New Century Version) or “in battle array” (American Bible). New American Bible says “drawn up in battle order.” With full intent is literally “with perfect heart” (Braun). Other possible models for this phrase are “with singleness of purpose” (American Bible), “with wholehearted determination” (Holman Christian Standard Bible), and “fully determined” (Revised English Bible).
Likewise all the rest of Israel were of a single mind …: Of a single mind is literally “of one heart.” The more common idiom in English is “of one mind” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible). American Bible says that they were “unanimous.” Other languages may render were of a single mind as “had the same thought” or “agreed together.”
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 .
All those men were soldiers who were ready to fight in war. (EEB) -or-
All these men were brave fighters. (English Easy-to-Read Version)
12:38b came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel.
They came to David in Hebron because they wanted to make him king to rule all Israel. (EEB) -or-
They came to the town of Hebron for one reason—to make David king of all Israel. (English Easy-to-Read Version)
12:38c And all the rest of the Israelites were of one mind to make David king.
All the other Israelites also agreed that David should become king. (EEB) -or-
In fact, all of Israel was ready for this change. (TLB)
12:38:a–c (combined)
All those men were fighting men and they came to David at Hebron. They volunteered to serve in the ranks of David’s army. They came determined to make him king over all Israel. Everyone in Israel thought so as well. -or-
All these men were trained soldiers and they came to Hebron ready for war. They wanted to make David king of Israel and were willing to fight for him. All the other people in Israel agreed with them.
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