firstborn

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “firstborn” in English is translated in a number of ways:

  • “he/she that opens the gown” in Batak Toba (because formerly a woman stopped wearing a gown and started using a bodice after the birth of her first child)
  • “he/she that damages the stalk (i.e. the body)” in Uab Meto (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • “the oldest son of all” in Mezquital Otomi
  • “oldest child” in Isthmus Zapotec (source for this and one above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • “firstborn child, who was a boy” in Elhomwe (to make clear, without ambiguity, that Mary did not have daughters before) (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In Bawm Chin, the term can imply the existence of younger siblings, so a translation is needed that brings out the fact that Jesus is superior to all else, not just the first of a series. (Source: David Clark)

See also only begotten son / (one and) only son and firstborn.

Samuel's sons (image)

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complete verse (1 Samuel 8:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 8:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “The elder son was called Joel, and the follower was Abijah. They used to have their council meetings in Beersheba.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The name of his eldest son was Joel and the name of the second eldest was Abijah. The two of them were judges of Beersheba.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The name of his eldest was Joel, and the younger-one was Abia. And they served as leaders at Beersheba.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They judged people’s disputes/cases in Beersheba town.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 8:2

First-born son … second: the translations “older” and “younger” are more idiomatic English. The meaning is not merely that Joel was older than Abijah, with the possibility that there were other sons older than both of them. Samuel had only two sons. The name Joel means “Yaw (Yahweh) is God.” The name Abijah means “my father is Yahweh.”

Since Samuel had only two sons, it may be more natural to say “the other” in place of his second. And in some languages it may also be more natural to reorder the first part of this verse along the following lines: “Joel was the name of the first-born son and Abijah was the name of the other one.”

Judges: as in verse 1.

Beer-sheba: a town in the Judean desert at the southern end of Israelite territory (see the comment on 3.20). Their father Samuel had carried out his work in the central hill country to the north.

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 .