4and Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah. These were the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem.
The town name that is transliterated as “Bethlehem” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the signs signifying “manger + town” (referring to Luke 2:7). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
In American Sign Language it is translated with the signs for “bread” and “house,” referring to the original meaning of “Bethlehem” as “house of bread.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Bethlehem” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 4:4:
Kupsabiny: “Hur was the firstborn of Ephrata and Caleb. The people who founded/started the city of Bethlehem were grandchildren/descendants of Hur. Hur had three sons: Etam, Penuel and Ezer. Etam had three sons and they were Jezreel, Ishma and Idbash and a daughter who was called Hazzelelponi. Penuel started the city of Gedor and Ezer, he started the city of Hushah.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah. Hur was the first-born son of Ephrath, Ephrath founded the city of Bethlehem.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hasha. These were the descendants of Hur, the eldest child of Efrata. Hur was the ancestor of those of/from-Betlehem.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The oldest son of Caleb and his wife Ephrathah was Hur. Hur was the one who started/founded Bethlehem town. His three sons were Etam, Penuel, and Ezer. Etam’s sons were Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash. Their sister was Hazzelelponi. Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
These were the sons of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash: In the Masoretic Text this sentence is literally “And these [were] the father [ʾabi in Hebrew] of Etam: Jezreel and Ishma and Idbash.” Since this text seems to make no sense, interpreters have interpreted or corrected it in various ways as follows:
• (1) Some reconstruct it to read “These were the descendants of Hareph, the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash” (New American Bible). There is no real textual evidence for this reconstruction, but it is based on harmonizing verse 3 with verse 4 and 1 Chr 2.51, which refer to the descendants of Hur. Similar in some ways is Klein’s suggested reconstruction, which reads “These are the sons of Hareph, the father of Beth-gader: X the father of Etam, Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash.” Klein assumes that the name of Etam’s father is missing, so he simply puts the letter “X” in the text where the name should be. In 1 Chr 2.51 Hareph is named as a son of Hur and the father of Beth-gader.
• (2) On the basis of the end of verse 4, some interpreters consider Hur to be the father or grandfather of Etam. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible says “These are the sons of Hur: the father of Etam, Jezreel, Ishma and Idbash”; that is, four persons are listed as the sons of Hur, including the father of Etam. Luther is similar with “And these are the sons of Hur, the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, Idbash.” Osty-Trinquet follows this same interpretation but places the words “the sons of Hur” within square brackets to show that they are not in the Masoretic Text but have been added in the translation. Compare New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, which says “These were [the sons of] the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash.”
• (3) Others have taken the Hebrew word ʾabi (“father”) as part of a person’s name. New Jerusalem Bible, for example, reads “These are Abi-Etam, Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash.”
• (4) Others follow the ancient versions in reading “The sons of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, Idbash” (Revised English Bible; similarly Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). Good News Translation restructures verses 3 and 4 by combining them. The information at the end of verse 4 is moved to the beginning, and Ephrathah (“Ephrath”) is identified as “Caleb’s wife” on the basis of 1 Chr 2.19. Then Etam, Penuel, and Ezer are grouped together as “three sons” of Hur. Finally Penuel and Ezer are identified as the founders of the cities of Gedor and Hushah.
• (5) Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, however, gives a {C} rating to the Masoretic Text and says that the sense of “father” here is “clan founder of a town” as in 1 Chr 2.42. This interpretation is recommended by the Handbook. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament suggests the following translation: “These are the people who are the origin of the population of Etam: Jezreel….” Compare “The founders of Etam were Jezreel…” (Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente; similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). A city named Etam, located 3.5 kilometers (about 2 miles) southwest of Bethlehem, is mentioned in 2 Chr 11.6.
Gedor was a town located in the hill country of Judah about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) north of Hebron. The town of Hushah was also located in the hill country of Judah, a few kilometers southwest of Bethlehem (see 2 Sam 21.18; 23.27). Bethlehem was a town located about 8 kilometers (5 miles) south of Jerusalem. This, of course, is the town best known as the birthplace of Jesus, and is also known as Ephrathah after its founder (see Micah 5.2).
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 .
4:4a Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah.
Gedor’s father was Penuel, and Hushah’s father was Ezer. -or-
Penuel founded ⌊the town⌋ of Gedor, and Ezer founded ⌊the town⌋ of Hushah.
4:4b These were the descendants of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah and the father of Bethlehem.
Hur was the firstborn of Ephrathah, and he was the ancestor of ⌊the people of⌋ Bethlehem. Hur had the following descendants. -or-
Hur was the oldest son of his father Caleb’s wife Ephrath, and his descendants founded the city of Bethlehem. Hur had three sons. (GNTD)
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