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 5:14:
Kupsabiny: “All these came from the stomach of Abihail. And the one who produced Abihail was Huri who was son of Jaroah, whose father was Gilead who was son of Michael, who was son of Jeshishai, who was son of Jahdo, who was son of Buz.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “These were the descendants of Abihail. Abihail was the son of Huri. Huri was the son of Jaroah. Jaroah was the son of Gilead. Gilead was the son of Michael. Michael was the son of Jeshishai. Jeshishai was the son of Jahdo. Jahdo was the son of Buz.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “They were the descendants of Abihail the child of Huri. This Huri was the child of Jaroa and grandchild of Gilead, and great-grandchild of Micael. This Micael was the child of Jeshishai and grandchild of Jado, and great-grandchild of Buz.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
These were the sons of Abihail …: The demonstrative pronoun These apparently refers to the persons just named in the preceding verses. The word sons is best understood in the sense of “descendants” (Good News Translation) in this context. A list of Abihail’s ancestors is given in the form son of … son of….Good News Translation omits the repetition by restructuring this verse and saying “whose ancestors were traced back as follows.” The order in which the names are given implies that each successive person named is the father of the previous one. This verse is difficult to understand. The reader expects a list of brothers who were the sons of Abihail. Or one expects a list of descendants of Abihail, but instead the list consists of seven generations of ancestors of Abihail. Abihail is therefore listed as a descendant of Buz and not an ancestor of Buz.
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 .
5:14a These were the sons of Abihail son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead,
These were all descendants of Abihail, son of Huri. ⌊Huri was⌋ the son of Jaroah ⌊and Jaroah was⌋ the son of Gilead. -or-
Abihail was their ancestor. Abihail’s father ⌊was⌋ Huri, ⌊and Huri’s⌋ father ⌊was⌋ Jaroah. ⌊Jaroah’s⌋ father ⌊was⌋ Gilead, ⌊and Gilead’s⌋ father ⌊was⌋ Michael.
5:14b the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz.
⌊Gilead was⌋ the son of Michael. ⌊Michael was⌋ the son of Jeshishai. ⌊Jeshishai was⌋ the son of Jahdo, ⌊and Jahdo was⌋ the son of Buz. -or-
Michael’s father ⌊was⌋ Jeshishai. ⌊Jeshishai’s⌋ father ⌊was⌋ Jahdo, ⌊and Jahdo’s⌋ father ⌊was⌋ Buz.
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