complete verse (2 Samuel 2:27)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 2:27:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then Joab swore that, ‘As surely as God is/exists, if you had not spoken, my people would have chased you until morning.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Joab answered, As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken the men would not have stopped pursuing their kinsmen until morning."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then Joab answered, ‘If you have- not -spoken, I strongly assure you, in the presence of the living God, you would-have-been surely chase by my men until morning.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Joab replied, ‘Just as surely as God lives, if you had not said that, my soldiers would have continued pursuing your men until tomorrow morning!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

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 2:27

Said: or perhaps “shouted back,” in view of the context.

As God lives: this expression, also found in Job 27.2, is a way of swearing in the strongest possible terms. A similar expression using the name of YHWH, “as the LORD lives,” is much more frequent, occurring thirty-five times in the Old Testament (including Judges 8.19; Ruth 3.13; 1 Sam 14.39 and 2 Sam 4.9). This may be stated in a variety of ways in different languages. For example, “I promise, with God as my witness,” or “In the presence of God, I affirm,” or “I make a vow in the name of God.”

If you had not spoken: some languages will require that the content of what was spoken be made clear. This almost certainly refers to what Abner had just said about the risk of continuing the battle. Bible en français courant clarifies the meaning by saying “if you had not asked for this break….” In other cases one may say simply “if you had not said that…” (referring to Abner’s words) or, more generally, “if you had not said something….”

A slight change in the spelling of the word not will change this Hebrew word to “only.” The meaning would then be “If you had only spoken [earlier during the battle], the men would have stopped fighting earlier that same morning.” Though this change has been noted by interpreters, it has not been accepted by translators.

The men: literally “the people” (as in verse 26).

Their brethren: in replying to Abner, Joab uses the same kind of indirect reference as Abner used in the previous verse. But here it is better translated by the plural pronoun “you,” since Joab is speaking to and about his opponents.

Would have given up … in the morning: there is a problem here in deciding which morning is referred to. Is it the previous morning or the following one (so Good News Translation)? Like Good News Translation, New International Version indicates that “in the morning” refers to the following morning: “If you had not spoken, the men would have continued the pursuit of their brothers until morning.” The Hebrew may also be understood to mean that Joab’s troops would definitely have continued to pursue Abner until the next morning if Abner had not spoken up. This interpretation gives nearly the same meaning as that in Good News Translation. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, for example, says “if you hadn’t spoken up, the troops would have given up the pursuit of their kinsmen only the next morning.” It is possible to understand the Hebrew to mean that, if Abner had not issued the challenge at the pool of Gibeon that morning, the soldiers would have gone home then without ever fighting. The alternate translation in New International Version follows this second interpretation: “If you had not spoken this morning, the men would not have taken up the pursuit of their brothers.” The meaning of the text is probably best conveyed by the interpretation which is the basis for the New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Good News Translation translations.

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 .