1These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite;
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “firstborn” in English is translated in a number of ways:
“he/she that opens the gown” in Batak Toba (because formerly a woman stopped wearing a gown and started using a bodice after the birth of her first child)
“he/she that damages the stalk (i.e. the body)” in Uab Meto (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
“oldest child” in Isthmus Zapotec (source for this and one above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
“firstborn child, who was a boy” in Elhomwe (to make clear, without ambiguity, that Mary did not have daughters before) (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In Bawm Chin, the term can imply the existence of younger siblings, so a translation is needed that brings out the fact that Jesus is superior to all else, not just the first of a series. (Source: David Clark)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 3:1:
Kupsabiny: “The firstborn of David was called Amnon, and his mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel. The second son was Daniel, and his mother was Abigail from Carmel.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “These are the sons of David, who were born in Hebron: The eldest son was Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel. The second was Daniel, whose mother was Abigail of Carmel.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “These were the male children/(sons) of David who were-born in Hebron: The eldest was Amnon who was his child with Ahinoam of/from-Jezreel. The second was Daniel who was his child with Abigail of/from-Carmel.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Six sons of King David were born in Hebron city. His oldest son was Amnon, whose mother Ahinoam was from Jezreel city. His next son was Daniel, whose mother was Abigail from Carmel city.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
These are the sons of David that were born to him in Hebron: Verses 1-3 list the sons of David that were born in Hebron, a town located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) southwest of Jerusalem. Verse 4 mentions there were six sons born in Hebron. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente adds the idea of “six” sons at the beginning of verse 1 by saying “Six sons were born to David in Hebron.” In some languages it may be more natural and more helpful to begin with “Here is the list of the sons of David who were born in Hebron” (Bible en français courant, La Bible du Semeur). Although the text does not say so, this seems to be a list of the firstborn sons of each of David’s wives and not a list of all of the sons born by these wives.
The first-born Amnon, by Ahino-am the Jezreelitess; the second Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelitess: Although the Hebrew says simply by Ahino-am and by Abigail, it may be clearer in some languages to say “whose mother was Ahinoam” and “whose mother was Abigail” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation, Moffatt, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). The Hebrew says the Jezreelitess and the Carmelitess, but it may be better to say “from Jezreel” and “from Carmel” (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje) or “from the city of Jezreel” and “from the city of Carmel” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). The information that Jezreel and Carmel were towns or cities would have been understood by the ancient readers, but may not be known by modern readers in other languages.
The son named Daniel is called “Chileab” in 2 Sam 3.3. New Living Translation harmonizes the parallel passages with the name “Kileab” in both cases. But since the two names cannot be seen as variants of a single name, such harmonization is not recommended. An explanatory footnote, however, is advisable.
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 .
3:1a These were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron:
These were the sons of David that his wives bore to him while he was in Hebron. -or-
⌊Here is the list of⌋ the sons of David who were born in ⌊the town/city of⌋ Hebron.
3:1b The firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam of Jezreel;
The firstborn was Amnon. He was the son of Ahinoam from Jezreel. -or-
The ⌊oldest son of David⌋ was Amnon. His mother was Ahinoam from ⌊the town/city of⌋ Jezreel.
3:1c the second was Daniel by Abigail of Carmel;
The second son was called Daniel, ⌊whose mother was⌋ Abigail from Carmel. -or-
The second ⌊son of David was⌋ Daniel. His mother was Abigail from ⌊the town/city of⌋ Carmel.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.