1There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Saul” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign that depicts “sword in chest” (referring to 1 Samuel 31:4 and 1 Chronicles 10:4) and also “self-centered.” (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 3:1:
Kupsabiny: “That war opened the war of people who were working/siding with Saul and those who were working/siding with David. These people fought for many days. All that time David continued becoming strong(er) and the house of Saul going down/weakening.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “For many days there was war between the clans of Saul and David. David became stronger, and Saul’s clan, however, became weaker and weaker.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “That-was the beginning of the long war/battle/fight of those who-are-loyal to Saul and of those who-are-loyal to David. The group of David became-stronger and stronger but Saul on-the-other-hand became-weaker and weaker.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “There was a long war between those who wanted Saul’s son to be their king and those who wanted David to be their king. But more and more people began to want David to be the king, while the number of people who wanted Saul’s son to be the king continued to become smaller.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
As already indicated the chapter break is unfortunate, since this verse provides the conclusion of the section dealing with the war between Israel and Judah.
There was a long war: the idea here is that beginning at that time there was long conflict. One way of saying this is as in New American Bible, “there followed a long war….” Or, in order to show that the previously described battle was also considered a part of this long period of conflict between the two groups, “So the war dragged on” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “This battle was the beginning of a long war…” (Contemporary English Version).
House of Saul … house of David: as often in the Bible, the word house in such a context refers to the families of the individuals named. In most languages it will be better to translate “family” rather than using the literal rendering “house.” But in this context the word house may be intended to convey a broader meaning. Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch speak of the “partisans of Saul and those of David,” and this seems to express the intended sense of the Hebrew. Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje and Good News Translation speak of those who supported the families of Saul and of David, and this model is also acceptable.
David grew stronger: perhaps intentionally the writer does not repeat the expression the house of David but rather refers to David as an individual. But this does not refer to his physical strength. He grew stronger politically and so his whole group became stronger. Note also that, while the text repeats the house of Saul here, Good News Translation keeps the focus on David and translates “his opponents.”
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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