Saul

The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Saul” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign that depicts “sword in chest” (referring to 1 Samuel 31:4 and 1 Chronicles 10:4) and also “self-centered.” (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Saul” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about King Saul (source: Bible Lands 2012)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Saul .

complete verse (1 Samuel 9:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 9:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then Samuel took Saul and his companion to the house where the visitors were eating and gave (them) to sit on the front seats. The number of visitors they expected to be in that house was thirty.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “After that Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the eating room and seated him in a higher place than any of the 30 people who had been invited.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When they (were) now there at the place-of-worship at the high place, Samuel brought Saul and the servant to the large/big room where the 30 men/people who had-been-invited were-sitting/seated. Then he had- Saul and the servant -sit in the seat/place-for-sitting which (is) for the honored visitors.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then Samuel brought Saul and the servant into the big dining room, and told them to sit at the head of the table, indicating that he was honoring them more than he was honoring the 30 people who had been invited.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 9:22

Took … and brought: see the comments on serial verbs in “Translating the Books of Samuel,” pages 20 and following. In some languages it will be better to use a single verb, as in “Samuel brought Saul and his servant” (Revised English Bible).

The hall refers to a large dining room. The same word is used for rooms connected to the temple in Jerusalem (see Jer 35.2, 4, where Revised Standard Version renders this word “chamber”).

Samuel gave Saul and his servant a place at the head. Good News Translation expresses this as “at the head of the table,” which in English signifies the place of honor. In some languages it may be better to say something like “he gave them the place of honor among those who had been invited” (so Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).

Thirty persons: the Septuagint has “seventy persons,” but this is not followed by any major English translation and is not recommended to other translators.

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 .