Absalom (image)

Hand colored stencil print on momigami by Sadao Watanabe (1972).

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe.

For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

See also Absalom.

Absalom

The Hebrew that is transliterated as “Absalom” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the signs depicting “hair + caught” referring to 2 Samuel 18:9. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


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

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Absalom (image).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Absalom .

complete verse (2 Samuel 13:38)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 13:38:

  • Kupsabiny: “Absalom fled to his grandfather, Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. He stayed there for three years.
    David mourned many days for his son Amnon.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Having escaped to Geshur, Absalom stayed there for three years.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “David mourned for his child Amnon for a long time.
    When Absalom fled, he went to the king of Geshur who was Talmai, the child of Amihud. He stayed there for a period/[lit. inside] of three years.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But Absalom had fled. He went to stay with the king of the Geshur region, who was Talmai the son of Ammihud. Absalom stayed there for three years.
    David mourned for his son Amnon for a long time,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 13:37 - 13:38

Because there is a great deal of repetition in these two verses, the order of the various elements has been modified by Good News Translation, and the statement that Absalom fled appears only once. Likewise the place name Geshur is found only once in Good News Translation. In the same way it may be helpful in the receptor language to group together all the elements that have to do with Absalom and translate them first before dealing with the description of what David did. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is similar to Good News Translation, except it restructures differently by stating first that David mourned a long time for Amnon, and then tells that Absalom fled to the king of Geshur. This order of events may be more logical in other languages also.

But: the beginning of a new paragraph may be sufficient to communicate the idea of the conjunction here.

Talmai: According to 3.3 this king of Geshur was Absalom’s grandfather. It seems logical that Absalom sought refuge with his maternal grandfather when he was afraid of being apprehended by his own father. In the Masoretic Text of this verse, Talmai’s father is named “Ammihur” (American Standard Version, New English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), but most modern translations say Ammihud, which is the corrected reading in the margin of the Masoretic Text.

And David mourned for his son day after day: the Hebrew text has only a pronoun implied in the third person masculine verb form, where Revised Standard Version has David. But this kind of clarification is probably necessary in most languages. Even King James Version supplies the name here. It should also be made clear in translation that the son David mourned was Amnon and not Absalom. The words day after day are a way of describing a long period of time. Compare the same sort of expression in Gen 39.10; Judges 16.16; and 2 Chr 24.11.

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 .