foreskin

The Hebrew that is translated in English as “foreskin” is translated into Anuak with the euphemism “tree of their bodies.” (Source: Loren Bliese)

In Rundi, “penis-skin” is used. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

messenger

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “messenger” in English is translated in Noongar as moort yana-waangki or “person walk-talk” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

Philistines

The term that is transliterated as “Philistines” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that signifies the helmet the Philistine warriors wore was decorated with feather-like objects. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Philistines” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Philistines (source: Bible Lands 2012)

complete verse (2 Samuel 3:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 3:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “David sent some people again to go and tell Ishbosheth that, ‘I want my wife Michal, the one I paid bride price for with the foreskins of one hundred of the Philistines.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, son of Saul, speaking like this, "Hand over my wife Michal, the one [for whom] I settled by paying 100 Philistine foreskins.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then David sent messengers to Ishboshet to say, ‘Return to me my wife Mical. For I was-able-to-marry her in exchange of/(for) the 100 skins on the end of the Filistinhon’s male-sexual-organ whom I killed.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, to say to him, ‘I had to kill 100 men from Philistia and cut off their foreskins to give to Saul to pay for Michal to be my wife. So now give her back to me!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

David

The name that is transliterated as “David” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign signifying king and a sling (referring to 1 Samuel 17:49 and 2 Samuel 5:4). (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


“Elizabeth” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In German Sign Language it is only the sling. (See here ).


“David” in German Sign Language (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

The (Protestant) Mandarin Chinese transliteration of “David” is 大卫 (衛) / Dàwèi which carries an additional meaning of “Great Protector.”

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about David (source: Bible Lands 2012)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: David .

Japanese benefactives (kaeshite)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

Here, kaeshite (返して) or “return” is used in combination with itadaku (いただく), a humble form of the benefactive morau (もらう). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 3:14

Saul’s son: this information has been given several times already (2.8, 10, 12, and 15). The Good News Translation translators did not think it was necessary to repeat it here.

Give me: since David and Michal had actually lived together as husband and wife (see, for example, 1 Sam 19.11), it will perhaps be better to translate this verb something like “Give me back” or “Return to me.”

My wife … whom I betrothed: this may sound unnecessarily repetitious in some languages. If so, it may be translated “the woman … whom I married” or simply “my wife.”

At the price of a hundred foreskins: this refers to the story in 1 Sam 18.20-27. New Century Version completely drops the reference to foreskins: “I killed 100 Philistines to get her.” But it is possible to say something like “I had to kill a hundred Philistines and present their foreskins to Saul as proof of victory in order to marry her” or “In order to marry her, I had to kill a hundred Philistines and prove that I had done so by showing their foreskins to Saul.”

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 .