35Today I am eighty years old; can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
In Aekyom, years are counted as “turtles” (ambum).
Norm Mundhenk tells this story:
“Recently I was checking some New Testament material in the Aekyom language of western Papua New Guinea. It seemed relatively clear until suddenly we came to a passage that started, ‘When Jesus had 12 turtles, …’ Surely I had misunderstood what they said.
“‘Did you say that Jesus had 12 turtles?’
“‘Let us explain! Around here there is a certain time every year when river turtles come up on the banks and lay their eggs. Because this is so regular, it can be used as a way of counting years. Someone’s age is said to be how many turtles that person has. So when we say that Jesus had 12 turtles, we mean that Jesus was 12 years old.’
“It was of course the familiar story of Jesus’ trip with his parents to Jerusalem. And certainly, as we all know, Jesus did indeed have 12 turtles at that time!”
In Tok Pisin, krismas (derived from “christmas”) is taken as the fixed annual marker, so Jesus had 12 “christmases” (Jisas i gat 12-pela krismas pinis) or Abram (in Gen. 12:4) had 75 (Abram i gat 75 krismas) (source: Norm Mundhenk). In Noongar it is biroka kadak or “summers had” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 19:35:
Kupsabiny: “You see, I am old that I no longer know/experience what makes people happy and what makes people unhappy. I no longer see the sweetness of food that people eat and I no longer see how things which they drink are. The singing/dancing of men and women is no longer sweet to me. So, please, my king, why should I trouble you, oh big one.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “I am already eighty years old. I am no longer able to distinguish good from bad [lit.: I am no longer able to recognize the knowledge of good and bad.] I no longer taste what I eat and drink. [lit.: Even to eat and to drink I no longer feel any taste.] I no longer even hear the singing of men and women. So why should I go with you and only be a burden for you?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I am now 80 years old, and I can- no -longer -tell/know what is good and what is not good/[regard to senses of sight or taste – not in a moral sense]. I can- no -longer-taste what I eat and drink. I can- no -longer-hear the singers. You will- only -be-burdened by me, Beloved King.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “I am now 80 years old. I do not know what is enjoyable and what is not enjoyable. I cannot enjoy what I eat and what I drink. I cannot hear the voices of men and women as they sing. So why should I be another burden to you?/I do not want to be another burden to you.” (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 of appropriate suffix title referred to as keishō (敬称) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017 by using –sama. Here, ō-sama (王様) “king” is a combination of the nominal title ō “king” and the suffix title –sama.
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:
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 am this day eighty years old: this does not mean that it was Barzillai’s birthday on the day he met King David! Rather the idea is that at that time he had already reached the age of eighty. Knox says “I am eighty years old now.” New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, New American Bible, and Revised English Bible likewise use the word “now” in place of this day.
A further series of questions is used by Barzillai to make several strong affirmations. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? (literally “… between good and evil”) is a way of saying “I cannot tell the difference between pleasure and pain” or “I no longer find pleasure in life.” Compare the description of old age in Eccl 12.1-7.
In the same way the question Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? means “I can’t enjoy what I eat or drink!” And, of course, the words your servant are yet another indirect self-reference that should be translated in most languages by a personal pronoun.
When Barzillai asks Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? he is really saying that he cannot hear well when people are singing. In some languages it will be sound strange to speak of singing men and singing women rather than simply “people singing” or possibly “singers, whether they are men or women.”
Finally, the question Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? is an indirect way of saying “I don’t want to be an added responsibility to you” or “There is no reason why I should add to your burdens.” In many languages all of these questions will be more naturally translated as statements. In others perhaps only the last will be stated in the form of a question. Translators should try to find the most natural way of communicating the meaning.
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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