Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 9:3:
Kupsabiny: “One day, the donkeys of Saul’s father got lost. Then that man told that son of his that, ‘Saul, go with one slave and look for the donkeys.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “One day some of the donkeys of Kish, father of Saul, got lost. So he said to his son, Saul, "Take a servant and go searching for the donkeys."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Now, the donkeys of Kish were-lost, so he said to his child/(son) Saul, ‘Accompany one of the servants and look/search for the donkeys.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “One day, some of Kish’s female donkeys wandered off. So Kish told Saul, ‘Take one of my servants with you, and go and search for the donkeys!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “donkey” in English was translated in the 1900 Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) translation (a newer version was published in 2000) as siutitôĸ or “‘something with big ears.” “[This] is based on the word siut ‘ear’ combined with the same suffix –tôĸ (-tooq).” (Source: Lily Kahn & Riitta-Liisa Valijärvi in The Bible Translator 2019, p. 125ff.)
These Hebrew and Greek words (with the exception of pōlos and hupozugion — see discussion below) all definitely refer to the Domestic Donkey equus asinus. However the different words do have slight semantic differences among them.
Chamor and onos are the generic words for donkey while ’athon (feminine gender) refers specifically to a saddle donkey or a donkey used for riding. A saddle donkey is usually a large strong female donkey the males are too difficult to control when they are near a female in heat. The Hebrew word is derived from a root that means “strong”.
‘Ayir refers to the young male or jack donkey (probably with an emphasis on its liveliness and the difficulty in controlling it since the Hebrew root means something like “frisky”).
Onarion means a young donkey of either sex. Some languages will have a special word for a young donkey. This will be appropriate for translating onarion.
The word hupozugion often translated “donkey,” actually indicates any beast of burden. Walter Bauer, the famous German New Testament scholar, has argued very convincingly that the animal referred to in Matthew 21:5 in the expression epi pōlon huion hupozugiou is the foal of a horse not a donkey (1953:220-229). In some languages it will be possible to express this in a way that does not designate a specific species of animal`, as in “beast of burden.”
Pōlos usually refers to a foal, that is a young horse, unless a word for donkey follows.
Donkeys are domestic animals belonging to the same family as the horse, but they are smaller and have longer ears. The donkey bred and used in the Middle East is the domesticated Nubian or Somali Wild Ass Equus Asinus africanus. In its original wild state this was a gray ass with pale, whitish belly and dark rings on the lower part of the legs. It was domesticated in Egypt as early as 2500 B.C. In its domesticated version, as a result of interbreeding with donkeys from Europe and Persia, the donkey came to be a variety of colors from dark brown, through light brown to the original gray and occasionally white. The Hebrew chamor comes from a root meaning “reddish brown.”
Donkeys are good pack animals being able to carry as much as the larger mule without the latter’s unpredictable moods. They also have great stamina and are easy to feed since they eat almost any available vegetation. Larger individual animals (usually females) are also often used for riding.
Donkeys were highly prized in biblical times especially females since they were suitable for packing and riding and had the potential for producing offspring. Donkeys were seen as man’s best friend in the animal kingdom. They were the common man’s means of transport and many ordinary families owned a donkey. They were used for plowing and for turning large millstones as well as a means of transport.
Today domestic donkeys are found all over savannah Africa the Middle East South and Central Asia Europe Latin America and Australia. They do not seem to be reared in rain forest or monsoon areas but they are nevertheless often known in these areas.
A donkey was considered to be a basic domestic requirement and thus the number of donkeys available was a means of measuring the relative prosperity of a society at any given time. While only powerful political or military people rode horses (which were usually owned by the state) the common people rode donkeys. This is the significance of the passage in Zechariah 9:9: the victorious king would return to the city riding a donkey thus identifying himself as a common Israelite rather than a victorious warlord.
In the majority of languages there is a local or a borrowed word for donkey. This is the obvious choice. In areas of Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea, West Africa, and other places, where donkeys are rare or unknown, the word from the dominant major language or trade language (for example, English, Spanish, French, Chinese, or Arabic) is often transliterated.
In most contexts ’athon should be translated by the equivalent of “female” donkey, but in some contexts riding donkey is better.
‘Ayir should be translated according to the specific context. In Genesis 32:15 the translation should definitely be the equivalent of “male donkey”, and probably also in Judges 10:4 and Judges 12:14. The significance of these latter passages is that female donkeys were the more normal choice of mount.
In Job 11:12 the emphasis is probably on the friskiness of the donkey, and the translation should be the equivalent of “He ties his young donkey to a grapevine, his frisky young ass to the best of the vines” (indicating a certain amount of irresponsibility, and perhaps extravagance).
In Job 11:12 and Zechariah 9:9 the obvious emphasis is on the youth of the donkey, so the equivalent of “colt”, “foal”, “young donkey”, and so on should be used.
Now translates the common Hebrew conjunction waw (see “Translating the Books of Samuel,” page 18). Here it is possible to leave it untranslated, since the beginning of a new paragraph fulfills the same function. But others may wish to supply a transition marker like “One day” (Revised English Bible).
The asses of Kish: the Hebrew noun refers specifically to female donkeys. Many translations say simply “donkeys” (New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) or “asses” (Revised Standard Version, New American Bible) without being as specific as the Hebrew. A number of translations do, however, say “she-asses” (Fox, Chouraqui, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, La Bible du Semeur), and there seems to be no good reason not to do so.
The Hebrew has a definite article the with the noun asses (“donkeys” in New Revised Standard Version and most other versions), perhaps intending to suggest that all of Kish’s donkeys were lost (so Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New American Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible). More likely, however, the definite article is used here not to designate all of Kish’s asses, but rather to refer to the particular animals that are referred to in the story that follows. For this reason Good News Translation (also Revised English Bible and Anchor Bible) says that “some” were lost.
In American English the words the asses of Kish would perhaps strike some readers as humorous because of the possible double meaning of the word “ass.” While the translation of this word will not be a problem in most languages, translators do need to be sensitive, as Good News Translation has been here, to how words will sound when read aloud.
Hebrew repeats the information that Kish is Saul’s father. In contemporary English style it is redundant to repeat this information so soon, so Good News Translation omits these words. Likewise, although the Hebrew says Kish said to Saul his son, Good News Translation says simply “he said to Saul.”
In Hebrew the imperative take is accompanied by the particle of entreaty that is sometimes translated “please.” It may be appropriate to do so in this context in some languages, although few English versions do so. Fox attempts to express the softened request by saying “Pray take with you,” but use of the word “pray” in this context is rather archaic.
One of the servants: New Revised Standard Version translates “one of the boys,” which can be misleading in English. The Hebrew term used here is the usual word for servant and should probably be so translated throughout this passage.
Arise, go and look: frequently Hebrew uses the verb arise with a second verb in order to make an action vivid and to emphasize that it should be started (see the comments on the use of this verb in series with other verbs in “Translating the Books of Samuel,” page 20 and following). A literal translation may suggest incorrectly that Saul was seated. Many translations simply do not translate the verb arise (so Good News Translation and New International Version). All three of these Hebrew verbs are second person singular imperatives.
If it seems more natural to do so in the receptor language, the direct quotation of this verse may be rendered indirectly so that the verse will read as in Moffatt:
• Now some asses of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish told Saul his son to take one of the servants with him and go off in search of the asses.
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 .
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