kiss

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The Hebrew and the Greek that is usually directly translated as “kiss” in English is translated more indirectly in other languages because kissing is deemed as inappropriate, is not a custom at all, or is not customary in the particular context (see the English translation of J.B. Phillips [publ. 1960] in Romans 16:16: “Give each other a hearty handshake”). Here are some examples:

  • Pökoot: “greet warmly” (“kissing in public, certainly between men, is absolutely unacceptable in Pökoot.”) (Source: Gerrit van Steenbergen)
  • Southern Birifor: puor or “greet” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Chamula Tzotzil, Ixcatlán Mazatec, Tojolabal: “greet each other warmly” or “hug with feeling” (source: Robert Bascom)
  • Afar: gaba tittal ucuya — “give hands to each other” (Afar kiss each other’s hands in greeting) (source: Loren Bliese)
  • Roviana: “welcome one another joyfully”
  • Cheke Holo: “love each other in the way-joined-together that is holy” (esp. in Romans 16:16) or “greet with love” (esp. 1 Thessalonians 5:26 and 1 Peter 5:14)
  • Pitjantjatjara: “when you meet/join up with others of Jesus’ relatives hug and kiss them [footnote], for you are each a relative of the other through Jesus.” Footnote: “This was their custom in that place to hug and kiss one another in happiness. Maybe when we see another relative of Jesus we shake hands and rejoice.” (esp. Rom. 16:16) (source for this and two above: Carl Gross)
  • Kamba: “greet with the greeting of love” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Balanta-Kentohe and Mandinka: “touch cheek” or “cheek-touching” (“sumbu” in Malinka)
  • Mende: “embrace” (“greet one another with the kiss of love”: “greet one another and embrace one another to show that you love one another”) (source for this and two above: Rob Koops)
  • Gen: “embrace affectionately” (source: John Ellington)
  • Kachin: “holy and pure customary greetings” (source: Gam Seng Shae)
  • Kahua: “smell” (source: David Clark) (also in Ekari and Kekchí, source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • San Blas Kuna: “smell the face” (source: Claudio and Marvel Iglesias in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 85ff. )
  • Chichewa: “suck” (“habit and term a novelty amongst the young and more or less westernized people, the traditional term for greeting a friend after a long absence being, ‘clap in the hands and laugh happily'”)
  • Medumba: “suck the cheek” (“a novelty, the traditional term being ‘to embrace.'”)
  • Shona (version of 1966) / Vidunda: “hug”
  • Elhomwe: “show respect by hugging” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Balinese: “caress” (source for this and three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel; Vidunda: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Tsafiki: earlier version: “greet in a friendly way,” later revision: “kiss on the face” (Bruce Moore [in: Notes on Translation 1/1992, p. 1ff.] explains: “Formerly, kissing had presented a problem. Because of the Tsáchilas’ [speakers of Tsafiki] limited exposure to Hispanic culture they understood the kiss only in the eros context. Accordingly, the original translation had rendered ‘kiss’ in a greeting sense as ‘greet in a friendly way’. The actual word ‘kiss’ was not used. Today ‘kiss’ is still an awkward term, but the team’s judgment was that it could be used as long as long as it was qualified. So ‘kiss’ (in greeting) is now ‘kiss on the face’ (that is, not on the lips).)
  • Kwere / Kutu: “show true friendship” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as heiliger Kuss or “holy kiss” in the epistles. The translators note (p. 62): “It is possible that this is an early practice in which Christians communicate the Holy Spirit to one another or rekindle it.”

See also The kiss of Christian love (image), Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth and kissed (his feet).

complete verse (1 Samuel 20:41)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 20:41:

  • Kupsabiny: “When that servant had left, David got up from where he had hidden himself on the southern part of those piled stones. Then he knelt before Jonathan showing honor/respect and prostrated with his head down three times. After that, they hugged themselves/one another and both cried, but David cried more than the other.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “After that young man left, David came out from behind the south rock [and] bowed down before Jonathan three times. Then the two kissed and they both wept. And David felt more grief than Jonathan.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When the boy had- now -gone, David came-out from the stone where he was-hiding, and he knelt-down before Jonatan three times as a respect to him. Then they hugged-each-other and wept; David wept the most.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When the boy left, David came out from the south side of the pile of stones behind which he had been hiding. He went to Jonathan and bowed in front of Jonathan three times, with his face touching the ground. Then David and Jonathan kissed each other on the cheek/neck, and they cried together. But David cried more than Jonathan.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

David

The name that is transliterated as “David” in English means “beloved.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying king and a sling (referring to 1 Samuel 17:49 and 2 Samuel 5:4). (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


“Elizabeth” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In German Sign Language it is only the sling. (See here ).


“David” in German Sign Language (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

The (Protestant) Mandarin Chinese transliteration of “David” is 大卫 (衛) / Dàwèi which carries an additional meaning of “Great Protector.”

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about David (source: Bible Lands 2012)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: David .

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 20:41

Some scholars consider verses 41 and 42 as a later addition to the text because of the intricate plan of communication that Jonathan and David had set up in order to avoid a face-to-face meeting. But translators have no alternative but to translate the text as it stands today.

This verse is difficult to translate because of several textual problems.

From beside the stone heap: the Masoretic Text says “from beside the south [the negeb].” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates this “David emerged from his concealment at the Negeb,” which makes little or no sense. If the Hebrew text is followed, perhaps Fox expresses the intended meaning: “David arose from the Negev direction,” that is, from the south side of the stone where he was hiding. Septuagint says “from the argab” (see the comments on verse 19). Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {D} evaluation to the text of the Septuagint on this variant. This may be translated “from beside the stone heap,” as Revised Standard Version has done, or “from beside the mound” (Contemporary English Version, New American Bible, and Revised English Bible, “from behind the mound”).

Fell on his face … bowed: a common sign of respect (for example, 24.8; 25.23, 41; 28.14; 2 Sam 24.20).

Kissed: see the comments on 10.1.

And wept with one another, until David recovered himself: the verb rendered recovered himself in Revised Standard Version means “to be [or, become] great” in its base form. The form in which it occurs in this verse means either (1) “to make something great” or (2) “to make oneself great.” The translation in the text of Revised Standard Version follows the second meaning, that David made himself great by taking courage and recovering from his expressions of grief. Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, and New Revised Standard Version (“David wept the more”) are based on the first sense, that is, that David made his grief great, exceeding the grief of Jonathan. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh (“David wept the longer”) and New International Version (“David wept the most”) are quite similar. This interpretation seems a bit more probable than the other.

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 .