making implicit plural form explicit (1 Samuel 31:3)

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 “(pressed hard on) Saul,” the Tagalog translation translates “nina Saul” because the context of the text seems to make clear that this refers to Saul and the remainder of his army. (Source: Kermit Titrud and Steve Quakenbush)

complete verse (1 Samuel 31:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 31:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “The fighting around Saul became fierce until he was shot/hit by an arrow and wounded.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The battle was going on all around Saul. And his enemy who used a bow and arrow wounded him very seriously.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The fighting/battle between Saul and-company against the Filistinhon (was) very severe/[double emphasis marker]. Saul was-hit by an arrow and his wound (was) very serious.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The fighting was very fierce around Saul. When the Philistine archers/men with bows and arrows caught up with Saul, they wounded him badly with their arrows.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 31:3

The common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse is left untranslated by Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most other versions. But Bible en français courant and La Bible du Semeur make explicit what seems to be implied: “From that point on….” Once the sons of Saul were eliminated, the Philistines were able to turn their full attention to Saul himself.

The battle pressed hard upon Saul: in certain languages it may be unnatural to make the battle the subject of such a verb. Either the verb should be changed (“the battle grew fiercer round Saul” [New Jerusalem Bible]) or the whole sentence should be restructured to make Saul the subject: “Saul became the center of more violent fighting.” Or the subject of the sentence can be changed: “the enemies fought even harder against Saul.”

Instead of saying simply the archers, the Hebrew text adds “men with the bow.” Since this is redundant, only the most literal translations retain these words.

The archers found him may mean either that the men with bows and arrows discovered where Saul was hiding, or that their arrows found their target and hit him. Anchor Bible translates “the archers found him with their bows,” implying the latter understanding, which seems more likely. The meaning of this expression is linked to the understanding of the following verb in Hebrew.

Wounded: the Hebrew verb means “to tremble” or “to writhe in pain.” Most English translations render this verb here as “wounded” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible; also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch,Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Nueva Biblia Española), probably on the assumption that one who writhes in pain must have been badly wounded. The passive was … wounded will have to be translated actively in certain languages. The most logical and simplest model for this may be something like “the archers wounded him” (Knox).

Other interpretations are also possible. French and Spanish translations often understand the primary sense here to be “tremble in fear.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates “At the sight of the archers, he [Saul] had a shiver of fear.” Nouvelle version Segond révisée, La Bible du Semeur, and Bible en français courant likewise say “he was terrified of them” (also Reina-Valera revisada, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). But this is not recommended.

Other translations follow the Septuagint, which says that Saul was “wounded by a heavy blow in the abdomen” (so Osty-Trinquet, New American Bible, “pierced through the abdomen”).

The best solution is probably to choose between the first two interpretations and place the alternative translation in a note, as Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have done.

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 .