The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “son of” in English is translated in all Icelandic Bible versions of the Icelandic Bible Society (latest edition 2007) in parallel with the Icelandic naming system . This means that for instance in Matthew 16:17 the name that is transliterated and translated in English as “Simon son of Jonah” becomes “Simon Jónasson” or in Isaiah 8:2 “Zechariah son of Jeberechiah” becomes “Sakaría Jeberekíason” where in both cases the “-son” means “son of.”
In cases where “son of” does not refer to a literal father or perhaps stepfather but to lineage, however, this system is not used. So in Matthew 1:1 “Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” is translated as “Jesú Krists, sonar Davíðs, sonar Abrahams.”
The referenced verses all have at least one instance where the Icelandic patronymic or matronymic naming system is used. (Source: Halldór Elías Guðmundsson)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 18:27:
Kupsabiny: “That guard said that, ‘But that one who is ahead runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.’ The king said that, ‘That boy is a good person, so he must be coming with good news.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “That watchman said, "Look, that one who comes running first looks like Ahimaaz, son of Zadok." The king said, " he is a good man, he will come bringing good news."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The one-who-watches said, ‘The first one who running seems like Ahimaaz the child of Zadok.’ The king said, ‘He is a good man. He might be bringing good news.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The watchman said, ‘I think the first man must be Ahimaaz, because he is running like Ahimaaz runs.’ The king said, ‘He is a good man, and I am sure he is coming with good news.’” (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.”
I think: this translates a Hebrew verb meaning “I see,” but here it may be used in the sense of “perceive” or “think.” Some other renderings are “I notice…” (New American Bible) and “I recognize…” (New Jerusalem Bible).
The running of the foremost is like the running of Ahima-az: this is a rather awkward way of saying that the runner who was in front was running in a manner like that of Ahimaaz. This supposes that the watchman knew him well and could have recognized his way of running even before being able to tell who he was in any other way. Some translators may prefer to break this sentence down into two: “It looks to me like the first person is Ahimaaz. I can tell by the way he runs.” It may be just as well to omit the son of Zadok, since this is a restatement of information given in verses 19 and 22 above.
Good tidings: here the adjective good is a part of the text and not added by English translators (as was the case in the Good News Translation rendering of verses 19 and 20).
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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