Philistines

The term that is transliterated as “Philistines” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that signifies the helmet the Philistine warriors wore was decorated with feather-like objects. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Philistines” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

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

making implicit plural form explicit (1 Samuel 27:11)

In many, if not most of the languages in the Philippines, proper nouns, such as personal names, are tagged with a marker that signals their grammatical role within a sentence. For Tagalog and the Visayan languages , this typically includes si to mark the proper noun as the actor or subject (nominative case), ni to mark the proper noun as an owner (genitive case), and kay to mark the proper noun as as an indirect object, i.e. the one to or toward whom an action is directed (dative case). All of these also have plural forms — sina, nina and kina respectively — and unlike in the biblical languages or in English, the plural form has to be used when only a single proper name is mentioned but implicitly that proper name includes more than just one.

In this verse, where English translates “David (left neither man nor woman alive),” the Tagalog translation translates “nina David” because the context of the text makes clear that David and his soldiers killed those people. (Source: Kermit Titrud and Steve Quakenbush)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (1Sam 27:11)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai translation uses the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

survive / escape / save

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “survive,” “escape,” “save,” or similar in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) in these verses with pulumuka, describing someone whose life was in danger but who has freed himself or herself. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (1 Samuel 27:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 27:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “David would kill all the people so that no witness would be left who could go and tell in Gath what he and his people had done. David used to do like this all the days he lived in the country of the Philistines.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “David did not bring any living man or woman to Gath because he thought [that] if he allowed any person to live, he/she would be able to tell Achish what he had been doing. This was his habit as long as he stayed with the Philistines.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “David and-company completely killed all men/males and women/females so-that no one could-go to Gat to-tell what he had- really -done. This is what David always did while he was-living/staying there in the territory of the Filistinhon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “David’s men never brought back to Gath any man or woman who was left alive. David thought, ‘If we do not kill everyone, some of them who are still alive will go and tell Achish the truth about what we really did.’ David did that all the time that he and his men lived in the Philistia area.” (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 27:11

This verse will be difficult to translate in some languages because it contains a quotation within a quotation. First, David’s thoughts are expressed in direct quotation. Then, in his thoughts David quotes the words of the conquered people, So David has done. Revised English Bible deals with the second quotation in the following manner: “He let neither man nor woman survive … for fear that they might denounce him and his men for what they had done.”

So David has done: literally “this David did and such.” While this is presented as a direct quotation, it is clearly not the exact words of anyone.

All the while he dwelt … the Philistines: as stated in verse 7, David lived among the Philistines for sixteen months.

The country: here, as in verse 7, it does not simply mean that David lived in the territory of the Philistines, but also that he lived in the countryside of the Philistines rather than in one of the five major Philistine cities.

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 .