33Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 17:33:
Kupsabiny: “Saul told David that, ‘You cannot manage to fight that Philistine because you are still a young boy, but he is a man who has been fighting for long.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “No, how will you be able to fight with him? Right now you are still a young boy and he is one who has been coming to fight for his entire lifetime. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Saul replied, ‘You (sing.) (are) not able to fight with him. You (sing.) (are) still young and he on-the-other-hand (has) already (been) one-who-fights/a fighter from his youth.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Saul said to David, ‘You are only a young man, and he has been a very capable soldier all his life. So you are not able to go and fight with him!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Good News Translation has restructured this verse in several ways that may prove helpful in other languages. The verb said is replaced with the more natural “answered” in English. Good News Translation also leaves implicit that Saul was talking to David. Good News Translation further changes the statement at the beginning of Saul’s response into a rhetorical question, “How could you fight him?”
You are but a youth is introduced by the conjunction for (sometimes translated “because”). This statement is therefore an explanation of Saul’s reason for thinking that David could not possibly go out to fight against Goliath. In some languages this logical connection may be left implicit, but in others it will be better to say explicitly “because you are only a young person.” The word for youth is a very general term that may be used for an infant as young as a few months old (Exo 2.6; 2 Sam 12.16) as well as for a growing boy, a young household servant, or young soldiers in the army. Since David was looking after sheep, he was probably at least in his teenage years at the time of this event. The point is, however, that he was not accepted as an adult capable of fighting in the army.
A man of war: see the comments at 16.18. And compare also 2 Sam 17.8, where the same expression is translated “expert in war.” From his youth uses the same Hebrew root as that in but a youth.
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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