messenger

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “messenger” in English is translated in Noongar as moort yana-waangki or “person walk-talk” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

complete verse (1 Kings 20:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 20:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then, those messengers returned again and came to say, ‘Truly, the king said that he wants your silver and gold, your wives and children.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The messengers came again and spoke like this, "Ben-hadad has spoken like this, ‘I am sending the message that you are to give me your gold and silver, your wives and children.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The messengers returned/came-back again to Ahab and said, ‘This is what Ben Hadad said: ‘I already said to you that you will-give to me your silver, gold, wives, and children.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The messengers told that to Ben-Hadad, and he sent them back with another message: ‘I sent a message to you saying that you must give me all your silver and gold and your wives and your children.” (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.

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("say")

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 20:5

The Hebrew begins this verse with the common conjunction that is sometimes overlooked by modern translations. New American Bible uses the contrasting conjunction “But,” while New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and New Century Version take it as a temporal connection by translating “Then.” It may be better, however, to follow the model of Good News Translation, which translates the transition word in such a way as to indicate the passage of a certain amount of time between the first encounter and this one.

The messengers came again, and said: Good News Translation makes it explicit that Benhadad’s messengers were speaking to “Ahab.”

Thus says Ben-hadad is literally “Thus says Benhadad saying.”

I sent to you: The Hebrew text has the short word ki to begin this clause, but neither Revised Standard Version nor Good News Translation translates it. One function of this Hebrew particle is that it may introduce direct speech, in which case it is represented by quotation marks in English. This Hebrew word has a wide range of other uses, including the expression of cause (“because”) and condition (“if”). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh takes it as a conjunction expressing a time relationship, so it says “When I sent you.” Gray translates it as an adversative particle by saying “Nay, but I have sent to you.” It may also be understood as a particle that indicates emphasis. Walsh renders it “See here! I sent to you,” and this may well be the best rendering in this context. Verse 6 begins with this same Hebrew word, which Revised Standard Version translates there as “nevertheless.”

Deliver to me your silver …: The wording used in this verse for Benhadad’s demand is not the same as in verse 3. In this case the Hebrew verb for “give/deliver” is used, but there seems to be no difference in meaning. If there is a difference in meaning, perhaps all that Benhadad was saying in verse 3 was that he exercised authority over all of Ahab’s kingdom, but now he is demanding that Ahab Deliver to him all of his possessions.

This verse contains the same problem of more than one level of quotation as found in verse 2, but in this case there are three levels of quotation instead of two. So this may require a somewhat more creative solution. Contemporary English Version provides one possible model for this verse as follows:

• Later, Benhadad sent another messenger to say to Ahab, “I already told you to give me your silver and gold, your wives, and your children.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .