22But the other woman said, “No, the living son is mine, and the dead son is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead son is yours, and the living son is mine.” So they argued before the king.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 3:22:
Kupsabiny: “Then the other woman said, ‘No! But the child which is alive is mine and the dead one is yours.’ Then the first women woman defended herself saying, ‘No, fellow woman! The child which is dead is yours, and the one which is alive is mine.’ Those women argued like that among themselves in front of the king.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The other woman said, "No! This living child is my son, the dead child is your son." But the first woman said, "No! the dead child is your son, the living child is my son." In this way they were quarreling before the king.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The other woman replied, ‘That is not true! The alive/living child is mine, and the dead-one is yours (sing.).’ But the first woman said, ‘That is not true! The dead child is yours (sing.), and the alive-/living-one is mine.’ So the two of them argued before/[lit. in front of] the king.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “But the other woman said, ‘That is not true! The baby that is alive is mine, and the baby that is dead is yours!’ Then the first woman said, ‘No, the dead baby is yours, and the one that is alive is mine!’ And they continued to argue in front of the king.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
But the other woman said … The first said …: Some translations say that the other woman “began to shout” (Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie). Revised English Bible translates the first quotation frame with the verb said according to the context as “The other woman broke in,” and the second one as “while the first insisted.” The second verb in Hebrew is in fact a participle, which suggests that the first woman was speaking at the same time as the other woman; that is, the two women were not taking turns speaking to the king, as Good News Translation may suggest, but rather were talking at the same time, arguing against each other.
Instead of the first No, Nouvelle version Segond révisée says “On the contrary!” Note that Good News Translation uses exclamation marks in the quotations since surely the women were not talking calmly but rather with great feeling and emotion (also La Bible du Semeur).
Thus they spoke before the king: The Hebrew says that the women spoke, but Good News Translation and New Living Translation have translated according to the context, in which the women “argued” with each other. Compare also “And they went on arguing before the king” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; similarly New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible) and “And so they wrangled before the king” (New Jerusalem Bible).
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 .
But the other woman said ⌊to her⌋, “No! -or-
But then the second woman said, “You(fem) are wrong!
3:22b “the living one is my son and the dead one is your son.”
The baby who is alive is my son. It is the baby who is dead that is your(fem) son.” -or-
The dead baby is your(fem) son. It is my son who is alive.”
3:22c But the first woman insisted, “No,
But the first woman kept on saying, “No! -or-
The woman who had spoken first refused to accept this.
3:22d the dead one is yours and the living one is mine.”
The dead baby/child is your(fem) son. My son is the living baby/child.” -or-
She claimed that her son/boy was the one who was alive and that the dead baby/boy belonged to the other woman.
3:22e So they argued before the king.
They kept on arguing ⌊right there⌋ in front of King Solomon. -or-
The two women quarreled in this way in the presence of the king.
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