17Jesse said to his son David, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers;
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “corn”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).
Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “millet” (Lambya) (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), “food” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “brother” in English is translated in Kwere as sekulu, in Elhomwe as mbalaawo´, and in Mandarin Chinese as gēgē (哥哥), all “older brother.”
Note that Kwere also uses lumbu — “older sibling” in some cases. (Source for Kwere and Elhomwe: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)
In Lama it is translated as “older or younger brother.” (Source: Neal Brinneman)
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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 to do this is through the usage of appropriate suffix title referred to as keishō (敬称) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017 by either using -san or –sama with the latter being the more formal title.
In these verses, the Hebrew that is translated as “brother” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as nī-san (兄さん), combining the word for “older brother” (nī) and the suffix title –san. Job 1:18 uses a smilar term with the additional honorific prefix o: o-nī-san (お兄さん). (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 17:17:
Kupsabiny: “One day, Jesse told David that, ‘Take this fried/roasted wheat in this sack/basket plus these ten loaves to your brothers who are in the army and you have to hurry to where they are.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “One day Jesse said to David, "Taking 10 kilograms of roasted grain and ten loaves of bread, go quickly to your brothers’ camp.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “One of those days, Jesse said to David, ‘Child/(son), [you (sing.)] be-quick to-come to your (sing.) siblings/(brothers) in the camp and bring them one half sack of roasted grain and ten pieces/(loaves) of bread.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “One day, Jesse said to David, ‘Here is a sack of roasted grain and ten loaves of bread. Take these quickly to your older brothers.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
And Jesse said to David his son: the common Hebrew conjunction loosely connects this verse with preceding events. Good News Translation and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente use an indefinite temporal connection, “one day.” Since David has already been introduced earlier in this chapter as one of Jesse’s sons, it may be unnatural in some languages to repeat the words his son. The Hebrew has the particle of entreaty here at the beginning of Jesse’s words to David. Fox expresses this as “Pray take to your brothers….”
An ephah is a measurement for dry substances and is equivalent to a “bath,” which was used for measuring liquids. An ephah is approximately equivalent to three-eighths to two-thirds of a U.S. bushel. In the metric system this is expressed as “ten kilos” (Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje) and “twenty kilos” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). The note in Osty-Trinquet states that this is the equivalent of a little more than 35 liters. Where precise measurements are not feasible, one may say “this sack [or, bag] of roasted grain” (so Bible en français courant, Contemporary English Version,Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) or “this measure of roasted grains” (La Bible du Semeur), although the latter hardly seems natural.
Parched grain: probably wheat or barley. The same food, which was quite common in the Middle East, was offered to Ruth by Boaz (Ruth 2.14). See also 25.18 and 2 Sam 17.28, where the same Hebrew word is found.
Ten loaves: the loaves are specifically loaves of bread. In many languages it will be fitting to include this information in translation.
To the camp of your brothers may be more naturally expressed as “to your brothers in the place where they are camped” or, as Contemporary English Version has it, “to your brothers at the army camp.”
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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