fat, oil

The different Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (1 Samuel 8:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 8:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “That ruler/king of yours will get some of your girls to be making oils for beauty and those which smell nice. Others will be cooks and others will make bread.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “He will cause your daughters to work making perfume and preparing food.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He will-take your (plur.) female children/(daughters) and he will-make (them) ones-who-make perfume and cooks.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The king will take some of your daughters from you and force them to make perfumes for him and cook food for him and bake bread for him.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 8:13

He will take: see the comments on verse 11.

Perfumers, that is, someone who mixes or blends ointments to be used for anointing or for wearing as perfume. New American Bible renders this term “ointment-makers,” and Fox says “ointment-mixers.” The same term occurs in Neh 3.8 and in Exo 30.25, 34.

In many languages the nouns perfumers and cooks and bakers will be more naturally rendered as verb phrases. So the whole verse may read “he will take your daughters and force them to make perfume and cook food and bake bread.” While it is not specifically stated as it was in the previous verse, the king is again seen to be the one to benefit from this work. Good News Translation makes this implied information explicit by adding “for him” and “his,” so that this verse conforms to the overall pattern of this passage.

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 .