firstborn

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)
  • “the oldest son of all” in Mezquital Otomi
  • “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)

See also only begotten son / (one and) only son and firstborn.

Baal

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is typically transliterated as “Baal” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “idol.” (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Baal” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as Master.

See also my Baal and Asherah.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Baal .

complete verse (1 Chronicles 8:30)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 8:30:

  • Kupsabiny: “He had his firstborn who was called Abdon. And his other sons were/are Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “His eldest son’s name was Abdon. His other sons were Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “His male children from the oldest to the youngest were Abdon, Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “His oldest son was Abdon. His other sons were Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Chronicles 8:30

His first-born son: The pronoun His refers to Jeiel. His sons are listed in verses 30-32. Following the Septuagint, Knoppers says “Her firstborn son.”

Many translations add the name “Ner” between the names Baal and Nadab on the basis of the parallel text in 1 Chr 9.36 (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, An American Translation, Moffatt, Bible en français courant, La Bible Pléiade, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, El libro del Pueblo de Dios, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, Osty-Trinquet, Luther, Peregrino. Others provide information about the name of Ner in a footnote. The name is also found in some manuscripts of the Septuagint. Since Ner is mentioned in verse 33, this suggests that the name has been omitted accidentally from the Hebrew manuscript here. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament suggests that the original text probably had the name “Ner” here, but since the manuscript evidence is so limited, Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives only a {D} rating to the corrected text.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 1 Chronicles 8:30

8:30 and Abdon was his firstborn son, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab,

Their first son was Abdon. ⌊Their other sons were⌋ Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,
-or-

⌊were the parents of⌋ Abdon who was their eldest son. ⌊Jeiel and Maacah were also the parents of⌋ Zur and Kish and Baal and Ner and Nadab

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.