Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”
This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.
So translates the common Hebrew conjunction. Some translators may prefer to leave it untranslated or to render it “And” as in Good News Translation, but most will probably prefer to render it as a logical connector as Revised Standard Version has done.
David paid Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the site: According to the parallel text of 2 Sam 24.24, David paid fifty shekels of silver. The value of the shekel was different at different times in Israel’s history, and there were different rates used for different purposes, so perhaps this explains the difference in amounts paid according to 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles. But in any case, six hundred shekels of gold would have been a huge amount. No doubt this extremely large amount is intended to reflect the splendor and magnificence of the future Temple. Rather than keep the unknown idea of shekels, translators may say simply “six hundred gold coins” (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, La Bible du Semeur, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Nueva Versión Internacional). Or the approximate weight may be given. Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, for example, has “almost seven kilos of gold,” and God’s Word says “15 pounds of gold.” David bought the site of the threshing floor and not just the threshing floor itself.
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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