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 27:4:
Kupsabiny: “When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he was no longer looking for him.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Saul was told that David had escaped to Gath, then Saul gave up searching for David.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “When Saul heard-the-news that David had-fled to Gat, he no-longer looked/searched for him.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “When someone told Saul that David had run away and was living in Gath, he stopped searching for David.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
When it was told Saul: in languages where passive forms of the verb are not used, it will be necessary to say either that “someone told Saul,” or that “Saul heard” or “Saul learned.”
Fled: see the comments on 19.18.
He sought him no more: that is, “he did not pursue him any more” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or, perhaps better, “he stopped looking for him” (New Century 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 .
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