complete verse (2 Samuel 24:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 24:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “Joab and company crossed the river Jordan and spread/put up their tents in a small valley which was on the southern side of the city of Aroer. And when they left that place, they passed the region of Gad and headed towards the city of Jazer.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then they passed over the Jordan, set up camp near the river south of the city of Aroer, and proceeded to Jazer via Gad” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They crossed-over the River Jordan and started to take-a-census from Aroer, at the south of the town located beside the channel/passageway of water. From there they went to Gad and then to Jazer.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They crossed the Jordan River and set up their tents south of Aroer town, in the middle of the valley, in the territory that was given to the tribe of Gad. From there they went north to Jazer city” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Jordan

The Hebrew, Greek and Ge’ez that is translated as “Jordan” means “descending (rapidly),” “flowing down.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the river bordering Jordan and Israel, along with the general sign for river. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Jordan river” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jordan River .

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 24:5

They crossed the Jordan: that is, they crossed the Jordan River, moving from the west to the east.

The Masoretic Text here reads “They crossed the Jordan and encamped in Aroer on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the valley the Gad and to Jazer.” A number of modern translations follow the MT in reading “encamped” (New International Version, New Century Version, Fox, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, as well as Good News Translation). The Masoretic Text says “on the right side of the city,” which is taken to mean “on the south side of the city” (New Century Version) or “south of the city [or, town]” (New American Bible/New International Version). Fox translates the Masoretic Text as “encamped in Aroʾer, south of the town that is in the midst of the wadi of Gad toward Yaʾzer.”

The reading began from is based on a reconstruction of the Hebrew text which is based on the ancient Greek translation. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament recommends “began,” giving this correction of the Masoretic Text a {B} rating, and this correction is followed by many translations (for example, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, An American Translation, and Contemporary English Version). According to the Greek text followed by Revised Standard Version, there were two separate cities that served as the starting point of the census: Aroer and another city that was located in the middle of the valley. The translation from the is based on a small correction of the Hebrew text in which the Hebrew word meaning “right” is changed to the Hebrew word meaning “and from.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament recommends the reading “and from,” which is followed by Revised Standard Version and a number of other versions (New Jerusalem Bible, Anchor Bible, and Contemporary English Version). This seems to indicate a double starting point for the census taking. Other Old Testament passages also mention an unnamed city in the middle of a valley together with Aroer (see Deut 2.36; Josh 8.9, 16).

Aroer was a city on the north bank of the river Arnon. This river formed the southern border of the territory of Israel on that side of the Jordan.

Gad refers to an entire tribal territory (see 1 Sam 13.7), while Jazer was a small border town of the tribe of Gad that is mentioned in Josh 13.25 and Num 21.24, 32. In both cases it will be advisable to add classifier terms so that the readers know that Gad is a territory and Jazer is a town.

The idea of going north was probably implied for the original readers who knew the geography of the area, but for modern readers in other parts of the world, it will be a good idea to add this information as Good News Translation has done.

In view of the numerous difficulties in this verse, the following model is presented as a summary of what is recommended by the writers of this Handbook:

• They crossed over the Jordan river and began [counting] at the city of Aroer and at another city in the middle of the valley. They went through the territory of Gad. And from there they went north to the town of Jazer ….

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 .