10Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the chamber so that I may eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother.
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “brother” in English is translated in Kwere as sekulu, in Elhomwe as mbalaawo´, and in Mandarin Chinese as gēgē (哥哥), all “older brother.”
Note that Kwere also uses lumbu — “older sibling” in some cases. (Source for Kwere and Elhomwe: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)
In Lama it is translated as “older or younger brother.” (Source: Neal Brinneman)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 13:10:
Kupsabiny: “Then, Amnon told her sister that, ‘Bring me those cakes here where I am, and feed me yourself.’ Then, Tamar took the cakes and moved to where Amnon was lying.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Then he said to Tamar, "Now bring the bread to the bed in my place and feed me with your own hand." Then Tamar took the bread she had prepared, and taking bread, she went to Amnon in his bedroom.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Then Amnon said to Tamar, ‘Bring here the food to me and feed- me -by-hand.’ So Tamar brought the food to Amnon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then Amnon said to Tamar, ‘Bring the food into my room and serve it to me.’ So Tamar took into his room the scones/dumplings that she had made.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
The concept of “please” is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-kure (おくれ) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Good News Translation changes the proper nouns to pronouns, perhaps in order to make the story move faster. While this may be acceptable in some languages, those that do not distinguish between masculine and feminine pronouns may find it difficult.
At this point the food refers to the dumplings (or cakes) that Tamar had prepared. In some languages it may be more natural to use the more specific term here, since it has already been introduced earlier in the story.
Into the chamber: at last Amnon was able to get Tamar into the same room where he was lying. With the servants no longer around, he finally had the opportunity of taking her to bed with him. Chamber translates a Hebrew noun meaning a “dark inner room.” Such a room was often used for a bedroom, since it was away from the sunlight.
If the receptor language requires it, the direct quotation here may be made indirect by saying something like “Then Amnon told her to bring the dumplings into his room so that he could eat them directly from her hand.”
Her brother will, of course, be rendered “her half brother” in languages where this is more natural.
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 .
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