fallen by the sword

The Hebrew in 2 Samuel 1:12 that is translated as “they had fallen by the sword” in English is translated into Igede with the existing idiom “the war had eaten them.”

fast (verb)

The Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “fast” in English is translated in Isthmus Mixe as “going without food to worship God,” in Lacandon as “leaving eating in order to talk to God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.), in Vidunda as “resting to eat” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext), and in Kankanaey as “endure hunger” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation).

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a sign referring to abstinence from food and drink. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Fast” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

See also fast (Luke 5:33).

mourn

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “mourn” or similar in English is translated in Newari as “have one’s heart broken” or “have a bursting heart” (source: Newari Back Translation).

army

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)

complete verse (2 Samuel 1:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 1:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “They all mourned that day until evening without eating anything. They did like that while mourning for Saul and his son Jonathan together with God’s people of Israel because many of those people died.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then, because Saul, his son Jonathan and the soldiers of the LORD, who belong to the house of Israel had died in battle, they beat their breasts, wept and then fasted until evening.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They wept and fasted until evening for Saul, for his son Jonatan, and for the nation of Israel, the people of the LORD, for many of them had-died in the battle.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They mourned for Saul and his son Jonathan, and they cried and fasted/abstained from eating food until it was evening. They also mourned for all the army of Yahweh, and for all the Israeli people, because many of their soldiers had been killed in the battle.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 1:12

Mourned and wept: the first of these two terms is more general and perhaps more internal in nature, while the second usually indicates audible or voiced sounds demonstrating grief. Although Good News Translation does not do so, most English versions retain a word like “wept” or “cried” to translate the second verb.

Fasted: that is, refused to eat food, or abstained from eating. Intentionally abstaining from eating was either to show a person’s sorrow for sin or to show sadness about the death of a relative or friend. In this context the action showed that the people were saddened by the news of the death of Saul. See 1 Sam 7.6.

Jonathan his son: for reasons of English style, Good News Translation does not repeat the information that Jonathan was Saul’s son, which is stated several times in 1 Samuel.

For the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel: it is possible that these two expressions refer to the same group of people. If so, the use of the conjunction “and” to join them is ill advised and should be avoided. In fact a note in Traduction œcuménique de la Bible states that the people of the LORD and the house of Israel “are here practically equivalent.” In some languages the best way to say this may be “for the people of the LORD, that is, the Israelites” or “… the descendants of Israel,” since the word house means “descendants” in this case.

More likely, however, is that the words the people of the LORD refer specifically to the soldiers (see 1 Sam 18.13; 23.8). Fox translates as “the fighting-people of YHWH.” New Revised Standard Version and Revised English Bible say “for the army of the LORD and for the house of Israel.” Similar is Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, “for the defeat of the people of the LORD and of the Israelites killed in battle.” See also La Bible du Semeur for a similar translation.

Since Jonathan and Saul were considered both “people of the LORD” and members of “the house of Israel,” it may be necessary in some languages to add the word “other” at some point. For example, “mourned for Saul and Jonathan, and for the other Israelites….”

Fallen by the sword: as indicated by the translation in Good News Translation, this means those who “had been killed in battle.” See verse 4 above on the use of the verb “fallen.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .