The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “son of” in English is translated in all Icelandic Bible versions of the Icelandic Bible Society (latest edition 2007) in parallel with the Icelandic naming system . This means that for instance in Matthew 16:17 the name that is transliterated and translated in English as “Simon son of Jonah” becomes “Simon Jónasson” or in Isaiah 8:2 “Zechariah son of Jeberechiah” becomes “Sakaría Jeberekíason” where in both cases the “-son” means “son of.”
In cases where “son of” does not refer to a literal father or perhaps stepfather but to lineage, however, this system is not used. So in Matthew 1:1 “Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” is translated as “Jesú Krists, sonar Davíðs, sonar Abrahams.”
The referenced verses all have at least one instance where the Icelandic patronymic or matronymic naming system is used. (Source: Halldór Elías Guðmundsson)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 23:6:
Kupsabiny: “Then, David divided the Levites into three groups going by the houses and those were of the house of Gershon, Kohath and Merari.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “David divided them [the Levites] into sections, division by division in accord with the names of Levi’s sons: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “David divided the Levites into three groups, according to the families of the children of Levi who were Gershon, Kohat, and Merari.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “David divided the descendants of Levi into three family groups; each group consisted of men who were descendants of one of the three sons of Levi—Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: And renders the common Hebrew conjunction. Some modern versions simply begin a new paragraph here without this conjunction (so Good News Translation). However, others take it as a temporal connector by rendering it “then” (Contemporary English Version). Organized them is literally “divided them” (New American Bible). The verb may also be translated “separated” (New Century Version), “formed” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), or “arranged” (Moffatt). The pronoun them refers to “the Levites” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible), who were divided into groups according to their clans.
Gershom, Kohath, and Merari: The list in verses 7-24 includes the descendants of Gershom (verses 7-11), Kohath (verses 12-20), and Merari (verses 21-23). Compare 1 Chr 6.1-48. Translators need to consider what format will be most helpful in presenting this list clearly to the readers. New International Version provides a very clear layout of this list, which we recommend as a good model to follow.
Instead of the name Gershom, the Masoretic Text has “Gershon” as in 1 Chr 6.1 (see the comments there). In the Masoretic Text this name is often spelled Gershom in 1 Chronicles, but elsewhere in the Old Testament it is always spelled “Gershon.” New Revised Standard Version says “Gershon” here in verse 6. Good News Translation keeps the name “Gershon” for this son of Levi throughout the Old Testament, which we recommend.
For this whole verse American Bible has “David divided them into orders named after the sons of Levi, that is, after Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.” God’s Word says “David organized the Levites into divisions based on which of Levi’s sons (Gershon, Kohath, or Merari) they were descended from.” But this rendering has a rather complicated structure containing a passive verb. A better model is:
• David separated the Levites into three groups. Levi’s [three] sons, Gershon, Kohath and Merari, each led a group.
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 .
23:6a Then David divided the Levites into divisions according to the sons of Levi:
David put the Levites into groups. Each group came from a son of Levi. Those sons were (Easy English Bible) -or-
David divided the descendants of Levi into three family groups. Each group consisted of men who were descendants of Levi.
23:6b Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. -or-
⌊Those sons of Levi were⌋ Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
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