12“Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes, obey my ordinances, and keep all my commandments by walking in them, then I will establish my promise with you that I made to your father David.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Greek that is translated in English typically as “obedience” or “obey” is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “thing hearing,” because “to hear is to obey.” (Source: Marjorie Davis in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 34ff. )
In Huba it is translated as hya nǝu nyacha: “follow (his) mouth.” (Source: David Frank in this blog post )
In Central Mazahua it is translated as “listen-obey” and in Huehuetla Tepehua as “believe-obey” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in Noongar as dwangka-don, lit. “hear do” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 6:12:
Kupsabiny: “God spoke to Solomon concerning the house he was building saying, ‘If you follow my decrees, observe what I say and all my laws, and you apply them, I will bring to fulfilment for you what I promised your father David.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Concerning this temple you are building, it will be like this — If you obey my precepts and decrees, and if you observe my commands, I will fulfill the promises I gave to your father David. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘If you obey my regulations and commands, I will- also -fulfill through you what I had-promised David your father. I will-live among my people Israelinhon in this temple that you are-building and I will- not -abandon them.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘I want to tell you about this temple that you are building. If you continually obey all my statutes and laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised to your father David.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 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.
God’s words to Solomon include all of verses 12 and 13. The first part of verse 12 presents the conditions that Solomon must keep in order to ensure that God will keep his promise. The last part of verse 12 and all of verse 13 then state what God will do if Solomon is obedient.
It will be noted that Good News Translation leaves implicit the fact that the word of the LORD is Concerning this house which you are building. In some languages it will be possible to include this element in the quotation frame beginning in verse 11 rather than as a part of the quotation itself, so the translation of verses 11 and 12a might read “11 Then the LORD spoke to Solomon 12 about the house [or, Temple] that he had been building: ‘If….’ ”
If you will walk in my statutes … obey my ordinances … keep all my commandments …: See the comments on these terms for God’s will and the verbs that accompany them in 2.3. In this case, however, an additional verb, obey, is included.
I will establish my word with you: See the comments on 1 Kgs 2.4.
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 .
“⌊I have something to say to you (sing)⌋ about this house that you are building. -or-
about the temple that he was building. Yahweh said,
6:12b if you walk in My statutes, carry out My ordinances, and keep all My commandments by walking in them,
⌊I want⌋ you(incl.) to live according to my laws, obey my commandments, and obediently/faithfully keep my rules/regulations. If you do, -or-
“You must obey all the laws and directions that I have ⌊given you⌋. If you live/act in this way,
6:12c I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David.
I will make my word/promise to your (sing) father David come true through/in you. -or-
I will do for you what I promised ⌊King⌋ David your (sing) father.
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