Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 3:14:
Kupsabiny: “And also. if you follow my ways and obey my decrees and laws like your father David did, you shall live to old age.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “If you observe my commands, decrees and orders like your father David did, I will give you a long life."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “And if you (sing.) follow my ways and obey my regulations and commands like what your father David had-done, I will-give you a long life.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “If you conduct your life as I want you to, and if you obey all my laws and commandments, as your father David did, I will enable you to live for many years.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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.
As in verses 3 and 6, the verb walk, which occurs twice in this verse, means “to live” or “to conduct oneself.” In the first case it stands in apposition with keeping or “obeying” God’s laws and commandments.
Ways … statutes … commandments: See the comments on these terms in 1 Kgs 2.3.
I will lengthen your days: To “lengthen someone’s days” is a Hebrew idiom meaning “to cause someone to live a long time.”
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 .
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