13But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, fell on the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon; they killed three thousand people in them and took much plunder.
The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin that is translated as “army” in English is translated in Chichewa as “group of warriors.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 25:13:
Kupsabiny: “Meanwhile, the soldiers that Amaziah was returning raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon. They killed three thousand people and plundered very many things.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Meanwhile the Israelite soldiers that Amaziah had not allowed to go into battle [with him] attacked cities between Samaria and Beth-horon and killed 3,000 people. And [they] took a great deal of plunder.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Meanwhile, the armies that Amazia had-sent-home and had- not -allowed-to-go in the battle/war attacked/raided the towns of Juda from Samaria to Bet Horon. They were-able-to-kill 3,000 men, and they took many things/properties.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “While that was happening, the soldiers from Israel whom Amaziah had sent home after not allowing them to fight along with his soldiers, raided cities and towns in Judea, from Samaria city to Beth-Horon town. They killed 3,000 people and took away a great amount of valuable things.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”
This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.
But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back …: Instead of the contrastive connector But, the common Hebrew conjunction here may be taken as a temporal transition by using the word “Meanwhile” (Good News Translation, New International Version, Revised English Bible). The men of the army refers to the soldiers of Israel, the northern kingdom (see verse 10). Bible en français courant says “the Israelite soldiers.” Since verse 6 indicates that Amaziah paid these soldiers, New American Bible says “the mercenaries.”
Fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon: The verb fell upon (literally “stripped”) will be more naturally translated in a number of languages as “raided” (Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible) or “made incursions into” (Osty-Trinquet) in this context. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “made forays against.” Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel (see the comments on 2 Chr 18.2), and Beth-horon was to the south, on the border of the southern kingdom of Judah (see the comments on 2 Chr 8.5). The meaning of this verse is not clear since Samaria was not a Judaean city. Some interpreters assume that Samaria here must refer to a town in Judah rather than the capital of the northern kingdom. Others think that the soldiers attacked from the direction of Samaria. Perhaps the best solution is that found in Good News Translation, which renders from Samaria to Beth-horon as “between Samaria and Beth Horon.”
And killed three thousand people in them, and took much spoil: Most versions assume that the subject of the verbs killed and took is the Israelite soldiers of the northern kingdom. But it is possible to understand the subject for these verbs as the people of the Judean cities that were attacked. According to this understanding of the Hebrew, three thousand Israelite soldiers were killed. This interpretation is the basis for the alternative translation in Bible en français courant, which reads “but three thousand of them were killed and much spoil was taken.” For the Hebrew noun rendered spoil, see the comments on 2 Chr 14.14, where it is translated “plunder.” See also the comments on 1 Chr 20.2 and 2 Chr 15.11, where a different Hebrew word occurs.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
25:13a Meanwhile the troops that Amaziah had dismissed from battle
However, the soldiers that Amaziah had sent home and who had not been part of the war -or-
But the soldiers whom King Amaziah had sent back ⌊to their homes⌋ and whom he had not permitted to join him in the battle {were still angry}.
25:13b raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon.
raided towns in Judah. They raided the entire region from Samaria to Beth-horon. -or-
They attacked towns in Judah between Samaria and Beth Horon.
25:13c They struck down 3,000 people and carried off a great deal of plunder.
They killed three thousand people and stole lots of things. -or-
They killed three thousand (3,000) people and took many valuable things from their towns.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.