large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 11:8

If the antecedent of the pronoun he will not be clearly understood, it will be necessary to use the name “Saul.”

The English word mustered is a technical military term, meaning to gather together the military or enroll people in the army in order to go fight. The same Hebrew verb occurs with this same sense in 2 Sam 18.1, and a different Hebrew verb has this same meaning in 13.5, 11. In the present context it may mean “gathered” or, after having brought the troops together, “reviewed” (New American Bible) or “inspected” (New Jerusalem Bible).

Bezek, a town on the west side of the Jordan River about nineteen kilometers (twelve miles) northeast of Shechem and about seventy kilometers (forty-four miles) north of Jerusalem, is mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament only at Judges 1.4-5.

Three hundred thousand … thirty thousand: the Septuagint has even larger numbers: 600,000 and 70,000. New Revised Standard Version and New American Bible follow the Greek in stating that the number from Judah was 70,000, since this is also supported by a manuscript from Qumran. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project has no discussion of this textual problem. The Masoretic Text, as reflected in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, should be followed.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .