soldier

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “soldier” in English didn’t have a direct equivalent in Enlhet so it was translated with “those that bind us” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. ) and in Noongar it is mammarapa-bakadjiny or “men of fighting” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

Philistines

The term that is transliterated as “Philistines” in English means “(from) the land of wanderers,” “(from the) land of strangers” (same as “Palestinian”). (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

It 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)

complete verse (1 Samuel 4:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 4:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “When the war started, the Philistines killed thirty thousand Israelites including those sons of Eli. Those Israelites were defeated and each one of them ran home. Then the Philistines took the Box of the Covenant of God and went with it.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “In this way the Philistines did battle with their great strength and defeated the Israelites. Then all the Israelites went running to their own tents. This time many men were killed. Thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So the Filistinhon fought, and they defeated the Israelinhon. Very many were-killed; 30,000 Israelinhon died. The remaining Israelinhon fled going-towards-home to their place-of-living/dwelling.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So the Philistine men fought very hard, and they defeated the Israelis. They killed 30,000 Israeli soldiers, and the other Israeli soldiers fled and ran away to their tents.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 4:10

So: the common conjunction is taken by the majority of English versions as showing a logical connection between the exhortation of the previous verse and the subsequent action of the Philistines. But it may also be taken as a temporal connection as in Revised English Bible (“Then”) or omitted altogether (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New American Bible).

The passive verb was defeated may easily be made active by making the Philistines the subject and the Israelites the object as in Good News Translation.

Home: literally “tent.” The same idiom occurs also in 13.2, but in that case Revised Standard Version translates literally.

The word translated slaughter here is the same as the one rendered “plague” in verse 8 above. As the context clearly indicates, this was a “disastrous defeat” (New American Bible) in which large numbers of people were killed.

Thirty thousand foot soldiers: literally “thirty thousand on foot.” Not until the reign of Solomon did Israel have an army with chariots. Good News Translation calls these men simply “soldiers,” but because it is stated earlier in the verse that the men “went running” to their homes, it is clear that they were foot soldiers.

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 .