Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("bless")

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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, shukufukus-are-ru (祝福される) or “bless” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 6:12

And: The conjunction may be left untranslated in this context in many languages. It serves only to connect this verse with the previous one. But it may be represented by a paragraph break as in some English versions.

It was told: this passive construction may be easily transformed to an active one by saying something like “Someone told…,” or by using an indefinite third person plural pronoun in some languages, “They told….”

The direct quotation has been changed to indirect in Good News Translation. This may also be a more natural way of conveying this information in many other languages.

So: although this represents the common Hebrew conjunction, the transition word is important in translation. God’s blessing on Obed Edom caused David to realize that the plan to move the Covenant Box to Jerusalem was indeed approved by God. He had doubted this earlier because of the disaster that occurred to Uzzah, but he now found his plan reconfirmed.

The city of David: or “Jerusalem,” as in verse 10.

With rejoicing: this may have to be translated as a separate sentence in some languages. Since there was rejoicing in the previous move of the Covenant Box (verse 5), it may be necessary to say something like “There was once again a big affair of joy” or “The people of Israel were again very happy.” Contemporary English Version has “Everyone was celebrating” as a separate sentence. But it is worth noting that the word used here is not the same as “merry making” in verse 5, even though the meaning is essentially the same.

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 .