Absalom (image)

Hand colored stencil print on momigami by Sadao Watanabe (1972).

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe.

For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

See also Absalom.

complete verse (1 Kings 1:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 1:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “David had a son who was called Adonijah, and the mother of Adonijah was called Haggith. This boy was following Absalom and had a handsome face/appearance. Then, this boy praised himself saying that he was the one fit to become king. Then he prepared carts to be pulled by horses and fifty men who would be running in front. His father did not rebuke him any single day saying, ‘What is this you are doing?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “His father had never rebuked him saying, "Why have you done like this?" Adonijah was also a very handsome man and was born after Absalom.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “From past-time David let- him -do-whatever-he-wants-to-do and he was never rebuked of/whith what he was-doing. Adonia was very handsome and he was the next younger-sibling of Absalom.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “After Absalom died, David’s oldest surviving son was Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith. He was a very handsome/good-looking man. But David had never rebuked him about anything he did. After Absalom died, Adonijah thought that he would become king. So he started to boast, saying ‘I will become king now.’ Then he provided for himself some chariots, and men to drive them, and horses to pull them, and 50 men to run as his bodyguards in front of those chariots wherever he went.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

SIL Translator’s Notes on 1 Kings 1:6

1:6a (His father had never once reprimanded him by saying, “Why do you act this way?”

⌊This all happened because⌋ his father ⌊David⌋ had never corrected/disciplined him/Adonijah. His father had never asked him, “Why are you (sing) acting in this ⌊bad/wrong⌋ way?”
-or-

⌊Adonijah acted like this because⌋ his father, ⌊King David,⌋ had never questioned/criticized any of his actions.

1:6b Adonijah was also very handsome, born next after Absalom.)

⌊It was also true that⌋ he/Adonijah was pleasing/beautiful to look at and was the king’s oldest ⌊living/surviving⌋ son since Absalom ⌊had died⌋.
-or-
Adonijah was next in line to the throne after ⌊the dead/deceased⌋ Absalom, and a good-looking young man.

1:5-6 (reordered)

Absalom had a handsome younger brother named Adonijah, whose mother was ⌊a woman named⌋ Haggith. At this time Adonijah announced/declared his ambition to become king. He assembled chariots and chariot drivers along with fifty supporters/guards to accompany/escort him. He acted like this because his father ⌊King David⌋ had never told him he was wrong or criticized anything he did.

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