The Hebrew that is rendered in English as “peace offering” or “sacrifice (or “offerings”) of well-being” or similar is translated into Pökoot as pöghisyö: “gift of peace/fellowship.” This term has the connotations of fellowship, wholeness, restored relationships, etc. The word pöghisyö is also used as a common greeting (much like Shalom in Hebrew).
In the ItalianTraduzione interconfessionale in lingua corrente (2014) it is translated as “sacrificio per il banchetto sacro” (“sacrifice for the holy banquet”), in the Contemporary Russian Version (2nd ed., 2015) as “banquet offering,” or in Tatar as “sacrifice of reconciliation.” (Source: Lénart de Regt in The Bible Translator 2017, p. 131ff. )
The German Jewish translation by Buber and Rosenzweig has “peace meal slaughter” (Friedmahlschlachtung).
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Saul” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign that depicts “sword in chest” (referring to 1 Samuel 31:4 and 1 Chronicles 10:4) and also “self-centered.” (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The Hebrew olah (עֹלָה) originally means “that which goes up (in smoke).” English Bibles often translates it as “burnt-offering” or “whole burnt-offering,” focusing on the aspect of the complete burning of the offering.
The GreekSeptuagint and the LatinVulgate Bibles translate it as holokautōma / holocautōsis (ὁλοκαύτωμα / ὁλοκαύτωσις) and holocaustum, respectively, meaning “wholly burnt.” While a form of this term is widely used in many Romance languages (Spanish: holocaustos, French: holocaustes, Italian: olocausti, Portuguese: holocaustos) and originally also in the Catholic tradition of English Bible translations, it is largely not used in English anymore today (the preface of the revised edition of the Catholic New American Bible of 2011: “There have been changes in vocabulary; for example, the term ‘holocaust’ is now normally reserved for the sacrilegious attempt to destroy the Jewish people by the Third Reich.”)
Since translation into Georgian was traditionally done on the basis of the Greek Septuagint, a transliteration of holokautōma was used as well, which was changed to a translation with the meaning of “burnt offering” when the Old Testament was retranslated in the 1980’s on the basis of the Hebrew text.
In the Koongo (Ki-manianga) translation by the Alliance Biblique de la R.D. Congo (publ. in 2015) olah is translated as “kill and offer sacrifice” (source: Anicet Bassilua) and in Elhomwe as “fire offering.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The English translation of Everett Fox uses offering-up (similarly, the German translation by Buber-Rosenzweig has Darhöhung and the French translation by Chouraqui montée).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 13:9:
Kupsabiny: “When saul saw that, he said that, ‘Bring for me whole burnt offerings and those of fellowship.’ When those sacrifices had been brought to Saul, he burnt (them).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “So Saul said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offering." and he gave burnt offering” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “he said, ‘[You (plur.)] bring here to me the burnt offering and the offering for a good relationship.’ And Saul offered the burnt offering.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “So Saul said to the soldiers, ‘Bring to me an animal to be completely burned on the altar and one for the offering to enable us to maintain fellowship with God.’ So the men did that.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
So: the common conjunction is rightly taken as a logical connector by many modern versions, although it is also possible to take it as a temporal connector. New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible have “Then,” and some omit it altogether (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Revised English Bible).
Burnt offering and peace offerings: see the comments on 10.8. In this context Saul is asking for the material to be offered and not for the finished sacrifices. In many languages it will be important to make this clear. Knox, for example, indicates that Saul “bade them bring the victims for the burnt-sacrifice and the welcome-offering.”
Offered the burnt offering: that is, “sacrificed the animal for the burnt offering.” Saul offered the burnt offering himself instead of waiting for Samuel to come and make the offering, as he had said that he would (10.8). God will later punish Saul because he offered the sacrifices himself (see verses 13-14).
In order to avoid the direct quotation in this verse, some languages will say “so Saul instructed them to bring the animals for the burnt sacrifices and the fellowship offerings to him.”
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 .
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