bed

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “bed” or similar in English is translated in Noongar as maya-ngwoorndiny or “bark sleeping” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

See also mat, bed.

behead

The Greek and Hebrew that is typically translated as “behead” in English is translated in Newari as “cut on the neck” (source: Newari Back Translation).

complete verse (2 Samuel 4:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 4:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “Before they left they cut his neck and went with his head. They moved/walked along the valley of Arabah until dawn to the home of David at Hebron.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “They entered into the midst of the house, coming to take wheat. After they went inside the house they went up to Ishbosheth’s room. There Ishbosheth was taking his afternoon rest and they struck him in the belly. So they killed him. Then they chopped off his head. Then taking his head they slipped away [from there] walked all night and through the Jordan Valley.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They went-inside the house as-if to get (some) wheat. Then they went-inside the room of Ishboshet, where he was-lying-down on his bed, and they stabbed him in the belly/stomach. After-that they cut-off his head and brought it in their fleeing. They traveled the whole night in the Valley of Jordan.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They entered Ishbosheth’s bedroom, where he was sleeping. They killed him with their swords and cut off his head. They carried his head and walked all night through the Jordan River Valley.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 4:7

If translators have chosen to translate the MT of verse 6, as have New Revised Standard Version and New International Version for example, then it will be necessary to make some adjustments in the way that verse 7 is translated. According to the translation of verses 6 and 7 in the Septuagint, the actions of verse 7 follow in order the actions of verse 6. But in the Masoretic Text, verse 7 repeats the information that the two brothers had come into Ishbosheth’s house, and then adds additional information about how they killed him. Notice how New Revised Standard Version begins verse 7 with the pluperfect in English: “Now they had come into the house….”

He lay on his bed: in order to be perfectly clear about who was in bed in this verse, it may be preferable to replace the pronoun he by the name “Ishbosheth.” This will be especially important in those languages that do not distinguish between masculine and feminine pronouns, since the woman doorkeeper is mentioned as having fallen asleep in the previous verse.

Smote … slew … beheaded: the first of these verbs may be translated “attacked” (New Revised Standard Version) or “stabbed” (New International Version). The result of this attack was that their victim was killed. Then they went a step further and cut off their victim’s head. Unless it is unnatural to do so, all three verbs should be represented in the receptor language rendering.

Arabah: that is, the Jordan Valley. See 2.29 and 1 Sam 23.24. The trip from Mahanaim, where Ishbosheth lived (see 2.8), to Hebron, where David lived, was about 130 kilometers (80 miles) and lasted all night.

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 .