complete verse (1 Samuel 20:31)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 20:31:

  • Kupsabiny: “Don’t you realize that you cannot become king of this country if David is still alive! So, go and bring David to come to here, because he must die.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “As-long-as/while David is-living, you (sing.) will- never -become king. Now, get him and bring (him) here to me, for he must die.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “As long as Jesse’s son is living, you will never become the king, and you will never rule over a kingdom! So now, summon David, and bring him to me. He must be executed!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

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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. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 20:31

This verse begins in Hebrew with the word ky, which most translators render as For. Fox, however, says “Indeed: all the days that the son of Yishai is alive on the earth.” (See the comments on 8.7.)

Lives upon the earth: there is no implied contrast here between living on the earth and living in heaven. This means simply as long as David “is alive.” Since the addition of upon the earth may be misleading, it may have to be omitted in some languages.

Neither you nor your kingdom shall be established: Jonathan normally was expected to succeed his father as king. But David poses a threat, since he, not Jonathan, has been designated as the one to replace Saul (see 15.26-28). There is a small textual problem here, but the meaning remains the same. The Septuagint says “your kingdom shall not be established.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament follows a manuscript from Qumran, giving it a {C} rating, and recommends the following text and translation: “you will not establish your kingdom.” Compare New American Bible, whose translation of this clause is based on the same Qumran manuscript: “you cannot make good your claim to the kingship!”

Send and fetch: see the comments on these two verbs used together in 16.11. Fetch him to me means “find him and bring him back to me.”

He shall surely die: literally “he [is] son of death.” The same Hebrew idiom is found in 26.16 and 2 Sam 12.5. This does not mean simply that David will eventually die. Rather it is Saul’s way of insisting that “he deserves to die!” (Contemporary English Version).

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 .