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 18:33)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 18:33:

  • Kupsabiny: “When David heard those words, he became very fearful and went to the upper room which was on the gate house crying for his son that, ‘Oh, oh, my son! My son Absalom so you have indeed died, oh no! It was better if I died and you remained, my son Absalom, oh, really!’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then the king, his heart bursting with grief, weeping and weeping went up to the room above the main gate, speaking and speaking like this,
    "My child! my son Absalom, my son Absalom! My son Absalom,
    if only I had died instead of you!
    Oh Absalom, my son, my son!” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “David trembled. He went-up to the room above the entrance/gate of the town and cried-out/wept. While he was-going-up, he said, ‘O Absalom, my child, wish I had-died instead of you. O Absalom, my child, my child!’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The king realized that he meant that Absalom was dead, so he became extremely distressed/overcome with grief, and he went up to the room above the gateway and cried. While he was going up, he kept crying out, ‘O, my son Absalom! My son! O, my son Absalom, I desire/wish that I had died instead of you!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

king

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Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • 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.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

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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 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. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 18:33

Deeply moved: this expression in English may have a positive or negative meaning. But it will be better to show clearly in translation that the emotion felt by David was that of extreme sadness and distress. Both New American Bible and New International Version say that he was “shaken.” Knox speaks of the king being “in bitter sorrow,” while New Century Version says that he was “very upset.”

The chamber over the gate: on the architecture of the city gates in biblical times, see the comments on verse 24 above.

As he went: this is the reading of the Masoretic Text, followed by Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most other modern translations. The Septuagint and the ancient Syriac, however, read “as he wept,” and this is followed by New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible. The two Hebrew words translated “as he went” and “as he wept” differ in spelling by one letter only. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project suggests that the reading “as he went” was changed to agree with the statement that he wept. Translators are urged to follow the Masoretic Text, to which Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives a {B} rating. The verb he went does not mean that he went somewhere else after he went up to the chamber over the gate. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation correctly say as he went.

He said: the quotation that follows was almost certainly not something that was said only once. New Jerusalem Bible translates “he kept on saying….” In some languages a habitual form of the verb should be used. And in most cases a more vivid verb than said will also be required.

While the fivefold occurrence of the words my son may seem awkward, this way of speaking in time of sorrow is an indication of the extreme grief felt by David. Where it is not too unnatural, as much repetition as possible should be retained.

After the initial cry, my son Absalom, the structure of David’s lament is such that it focuses on his statement about wishing that he had died instead of his son. The structure may be seen more clearly when laid out graphically as follows:

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 .