scoundrel

The Hebrew that is translated as “scoundrel” or “worthless person” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “troublemaker” and Kutu as “very evil person.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (2 Samuel 23:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 23:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “But, wicked people/sinners/godless men are like thorn bushes that are thrown away/disposed,
    which are not held in hand.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “But evil men are all to be thrown away like thorn plants,
    no one will be able to gather those thorn plants with bare hands.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But the wicked people are like thorny bushes that are being-thrown-away.
    They could- not -be-taken-away by just bare-hands but-rather had to use as-well tools [linker]/of iron and wood,
    and they will-be-burned in the place where they are-piled-up-at.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But he will get rid of godless/evil people like people throw away thorns
    that injure people if they try to pick them up with their hands.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 23:6

But translates the common Hebrew conjunction. Here it introduces contrast between the righteous rulers mentioned previously and godless men.

Godless men: see the comments at 16.7 (“worthless fellow”); 20.1; 1 Sam 1.16; 2.12. There is no particular emphasis on the maleness of these people. So instead of men, a more neutral term meaning “human beings” should probably be employed. It may also be important in certain languages to specify in what way these people are like thorns (literally “like a thorn [or, thornbush]”). They are at the same time both worthless and dangerous.

They cannot be taken with the hand: this passive expression may be easily made active, either as Good News Translation has done or by saying “no one can pick them up using only their hands.” In Hebrew the verb translated be taken is in the active voice, and the subject is indefinite third person plural. A more literal translation is “they do not take them with the hand.” Some interpreters, however, suggest that this verb is an unusual passive form, and that the subject is “the thorns.”

A possible model for the verse as a whole is:

• Bad people are like thorns; they are good for nothing, so they should be destroyed, but people cannot pick them up with their hands because they are dangerous.

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 .