the sword devours now one and now another

The Hebrew that is translated as “the sword devours now one and now another” or similar in English is translated in Nigerian Fulfulde as “the sword has no in-laws” which is based on the common Fulfulde proverb “death has no in-laws.”

Rachelle Wenger (in Journal of Translation 17, 2021, p. 13ff. ) explains: “A literal rendition of this metaphor in Fulfulde would have communicated little or nothing to the hearer. Swords just do not eat in Fulfulde. However, by analogy to a common saying, Mayde walaa esiraawo ‘death has no in-law’, we put Kaafahi walaa esiraawo ‘the sword has no in-law’. The intent of this statement is of course not that a sword has no in-laws (that is certainly true, but hardly relevant). The personification of the sword as having no in-laws and therefore no-one that it must be careful to respect/avoid is interpreted accurately by Fulfulde-speakers because of a vast cloud of cultural knowledge and associations with the similar proverb that is often quoted when death is discussed. When the Fulfulde metaphor is substituted for the Hebrew metaphor, not only does the correct meaning come through, but it also sounds much better for King David to say it this way instead of in flat, plain language. A person of his status is expected to be creative and speak well, not just blurt out the unadorned and obvious.”

messenger

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “messenger” in English is translated in Noongar as moort yana-waangki or “person walk-talk” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

David

The name that is transliterated as “David” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign signifying king and a sling (referring to 1 Samuel 17:49 and 2 Samuel 5:4). (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff.)


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

In German Sign Language it is only the sling. (See here ).


“David” in German Sign Language (source )

The (Protestant) Mandarin Chinese transliteration of “David” is 大卫 (衛) / Dàwèi which carries an additional meaning of “Great Protector.”

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

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 11:25

Thus shall you say to Joab: this introduces yet another quotation within a quotation. If this presents problems in the receptor language, it can be transformed into an indirect quote, as has been done in Good News Translation.

Do not let this matter trouble you: or “Do not be upset about the way the battle went” or “Don’t be distressed about what happened in that battle.”

For: this introduces the reason for the encouragement David wants to give to Joab. It is because people can never know who may die in battle that Joab is told not to worry. The fact that David and Joab actually arranged for Uriah to die does not change the fact that David pretends that they had nothing to do with it.

The sword devours: a literal translation of this expression will be extremely awkward if not impossible in many languages. What it means is that “people are killed by the sword” or “soldiers die by the sword.” But the word sword is used as an image to represent any military conflict. In some languages it will be more natural to speak of “dying in war” than to translate literally.

Now one and now another: this is a way of saying that things happen in a haphazard manner. There is no apparent reason why one person is killed and another is spared, and people cannot know in advance who may die in battle. In some languages it will be most natural to say “people never know who will die [in a war].”

Overthrow it: the verb so translated may mean either “destroy it [the city]” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New International Version, New American Bible) or “break through its walls” (Contemporary English Version), implying the capture of the city but not necessarily its total destruction. The former seems more probable.

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 .