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 5:8:
Kupsabiny: “Bela son of Azaz, he was a grandchild of Shema who was from the clan of Joel. Those people lived from Aroer in the South to Nebo and Baal-meon in the North.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “and Bela. Bela was the son of Azaz. Azaz was the son of Shema. Shema was the son of Joel. They stayed in Aroer and north from there up to Nebo and Baal-meon.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “and Bela the child of Azaz. This Azaz was the child of Shema, and grandchild of Joel. These descendants of Reuben lived in the area from Aroer up-to Nebo and Baal Meon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “and then Bela. Bela was the son of Azaz, and Azaz was the son of Shema, and Shema was the son of Joel. Reuben’s clan was very large. Some of them lived near Aroer city as far north as Nebo town and Baal-Meon city.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
And Bela the son of Azaz, son of Shema, son of Joel: Since verses 7-10 may originally have been separate from verses 4-6 (see the comments on the previous verse), the Joel mentioned here may be different from the “Joel” in verse 4. The same person may be intended, but that is not certain.
Who dwelt in Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal-meon: Who dwelt renders a singular pronoun and participle in Hebrew, and the subject is not clear. The possibilities include the following:
• (1) The subject could be to Bela (so Nouvelle Bible Segond). Menge clearly makes Bela the subject by giving the following heading to verses 8b-10: “Historical detail concerning Bela.” Menge then translates verse 8b as “This one lived in Aroer….”
• (2) It is more likely the descendants of Reuben if the singular pronoun and participle are understood in a collective sense. Some translations say “The Reubenites lived…” (New American Bible, Einheitsübersetzung, which begins a new paragraph here). Good News Translation seems to follow this second understanding by saying “This clan lived….” Contemporary English Version and Revised English Bible are similar with “They lived…” (similarly New International Version). New Jerusalem Bible says “It was Reuben who lived…,” but this translation may be misunderstood as referring to the individual rather than the clan. The same possibilities exist at the beginning of the next verse.
Aroer was a strategically located fortress-city that eventually came under Moabite control (see Jer 48.19). Aroer was given to the tribe of Reuben by Moses (Josh 13.15-16).
Nebo also came under Moabite control. In the Old Testament the name Nebo refers to both a city and a mountain in Moab. The exact location of this city is not known today, but most likely it was located very near Mount Nebo in northwest Moab. Some translations translate Nebo in this context as “Mount Nebo” (Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). In their prophecies against Moab, both Isaiah (15.2) and Jeremiah (48.1, 22) refer to the destruction of Nebo.
Baal-meon was another city that came under Moabite control. It is called “Beth-baal-meon” in Josh 13.17 and “Beth-meon” in Jer 48.23. It is probably better to write the name as two words rather than one since this will show more clearly the separate elements. Good News Translation and New Century Version have spelled it “Baal Meon.” But others write it with a hyphen as in Revised Standard Version (so New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).
Some common language translations make explicit what the original readers would have known, that Nebo and Baal-meon were “north” of Aroer (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje).
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 .
5:8a and Bela son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel.
and Bela, the son of Azaz and the grandson of Shema, of the clan of Joel. (GNTD) -or-
and Bela. Bela’s father was Azaz. Azaz’s father was Shema and Shema’s father was Joel.
5:8b They settled in Aroer and as far as Nebo and Baal-meon.
This clan lived in Aroer and the ⌊nothern⌋ territory up to Nebo and Baal-meon. -or-
This clan lived in an area from Aroer ⌊in the south⌋ up to Nebo and Baal-meon ⌊in the north⌋ .
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