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)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 23:8:
Kupsabiny: “Then Saul gathered all his soldiers to descend and surround David plus his people in the city of Keilah.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “So Saul gathered his soldiers for battle and sent [them] to attack Keilah and surround David and his men.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Then Saul gathered all his soldiers to-go to Keila and to-besiege David and his men.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “So Saul summoned his army, and they prepared to go down to Keilah to attack David and his men.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The people: Good News Translation uses the technical term “troops,” which is similar to Revised English Bible, “all the army.” At this time Israel did not have a standing army, so soldiers were called into battle from among the people when the need arose.
Go down: see the comments at verse 4.
The verb besiege refers to a military procedure in which soldiers surround a city in order to cut off supplies of arms, food, and water. The people inside the surrounded city will eventually have no choice but to fight their way out or give up. The same word is rendered “harass” in Deut 2.9, 19. In some languages this verb may have to be translated by a lengthy verbal expression in order to convey the meaning. Others may use a verb like “surround” (Contemporary English Version) or something similar.
The use of the verb knew probably does not indicate that David received this information in some supernatural way. Rather it is likely that he was informed by his own spy network. Other English versions use verbs like “found out” (New American Bible) and “learned” (New Revised Standard Version), which imply that other people told him. The fact that David actually “heard” this is confirmed in verse 10.
Plotting evil against him: the evil that Saul plans against David is clearly defined at the end of verse 8. Rather than translate the Hebrew literally, as Revised Standard Version has done, translators in other languages may wish to translate more specifically according to the context. Compare Good News Translation (“planning to attack him”), Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (“Saul’s preparations for war against him were made”), and Bible en français courant (“was up to no good against him”).
The ephod: mentioned in verse 6.
It may be more natural in certain languages to transform the brief direct quotation at the end of this verse into indirect discourse. This may be done quite easily by saying that “he told Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod 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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.