complete verse (1 Kings 3:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 3:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “and said to him, ‘Since you have requested for wisdom, I shall grant you everything you asked for. It is good for you not to have requested for a long life, or wealth or death of your enemies but you have requested for what will be helping to now what is bad and what is good. I will make you be wiser than any other person who came before, and never shall there be any one more wiser than you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “So I will do as you have said. I will give you a heart that is able to understand and wisdom that no one else has had either before or after you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I will-give to you (sing.) what you (sing.) had-asked-for. I will-give you (sing.) wisdom and understanding that no one has possessed in the time past and in the coming times.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So, I will certainly do what you requested. I will enable you to be very wise. The result will be that no one who has lived before you or who will live after you will be as wise as you are.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 3:12

Behold translates the common Hebrew focusing particle, which here draws attention to what God is about to say. But it is used twice in succession in this verse, introducing the verb do and the verb give.

The Hebrew adjective rendered wise and the participle rendered discerning are synonyms here, as they often are elsewhere in the Old Testament. If synonyms exist in the receptor language, they may be used here. Compare the various English renderings: “wise and understanding” (New American Bible; similarly Revised English Bible), “wise and discerning” (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; similarly Good News Translation and New Century Version, which both use nouns instead of adjectives), “wise and shrewd” (New Jerusalem Bible), and “wise, thoughtful” (Moffatt). If synonyms are not available in the receptor language, then a single adjective or noun may be used. Compare Contemporary English Version, which translates the whole verse as “So I’ll make you wiser than anyone who has ever lived or ever will live.”

Mind is literally “heart.” See the comments on verse 9.

None like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you: The verb arise in this context really means “come into existence.” There would never be another person like Solomon, just as there had never been one like him previously.

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 .