3The king said, “And where is your master’s son?” Ziba said to the king, “He remains in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give me back my grandfather’s kingdom.’ ”
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 16:3:
Kupsabiny: “David asked Zipa that, ‘Where is Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul who was your master?’ (Then) Zipa replied that, ‘That one lived in Jerusalem and he was thinking he the people of Israel would return to him the chair of rulership that belonged to his grandfather Saul.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The king asked, "Where is your master’s grandchild?" Ziba said, "As for him, he is in Jerusalem, for he thinks [lit.: has put in mind] that the dynasty of Israel, his grandfather’s throne, will be given back to him."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “David asked, ‘Where is now Mefiboshet, the grandson of your master Saul?’ Ziba answered, ‘He stayed in Jerusalem, because he thinks that the people of Israel will-cause- him-to-rule at this time in the kingdom of his grandfather.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The king said, ‘Where is Mephibosheth, the grandson of your former master Saul?’ Ziba deceived David by saying, ‘He stayed in Jerusalem, because he thinks that now the Israeli people will allow him to rule the kingdom that his grandfather Saul ruled.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
In the overall context of the conversation between David and Ziba, the words the king said may be better translated “the king asked,” and Ziba said may be more naturally “Ziba answered.”
Your master’s son: as has already been noted (9.9-10), Mephibosheth was actually the grandson rather than the son of Saul. In some languages it may be quite natural to use the word “son” in this way, but in many others the more precise and correct word “grandson” should be used. Similarly, later in the verse my father may be better translated “my grandfather” in order to avoid confusion. If the direct quotation is made indirect, “his grandfather” will be more appropriate.
Behold: see 1.2 and 1 Sam 2.31, as well as the discussion of this term in the introduction, page 18.
The quotation within the larger quotation at the end of this verse should probably be made indirect in many languages for the sake of naturalness and clarity of meaning. Good News Translation provides a model for doing this.
The house of Israel: this, of course, refers to the “people of Israel” or “the Israelites” and should probably be so translated in most languages. More specifically the reference may be to the northern tribes. If this interpretation is followed, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente may serve as a model: “He thinks that now the Israelites of the north will restore to him….” But here, as in 15.2, it is probably better not to be this specific, since Israel may refer to both the southern and northern tribes.
Give me back: the kingdom could not, of course, be literally “given back” to Saul, since he was already dead. And since Mephibosheth had never ruled as king, the words give … back may not be appropriate in some languages. What Mephibosheth meant was that as Saul’s grandson he would be made king and that in this way the kingdom would be restored, or given back, to the family of Saul. Compare Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente: “… restore to him the kingdom that was his father’s.”
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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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 third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used. In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.”
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