complete verse (1 Samuel 5:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 5:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “Boils intensified among those who did not die. People of that city made a lot of alarm/shouting towards the sky/heaven.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then, as for those who had not yet died, they suffered greatly, having been taken by the sprouting disease (boils). And the loud cry of the people who lived in that city reached heaven.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Those (who) did- not -die had- tumors -growing, and their outcry for help reached heaven.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Some of the people in Ekron had already died, and the rest of the people were suffering because of tumors on their skin. So they all cried out to their gods to help them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 5:12

The men: or better “the people” (New Century Version) or “those [who did not die]” (New International Version, Revised English Bible). See the comments on verse 7.

Tumors: see verse 6.

The cry of the city: in many languages it will be more natural to use a verb and say “the people of the city cried out.”

Went up to heaven: compare Exo 2.23, which says that the cry of the people of Israel “went up to God.” Very little is known about the religion of the Philistines. In addition to Dagon, they no doubt worshiped numerous other gods (see 6.5). The translation of this phrase should not suggest that the Philistines were praying to Yahweh, the God of the Israelites. New Jerusalem Bible, perhaps more appropriately, translates “rose to the sky.”

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 .