וַ֠יָּבֹא מְפִיבֹ֨שֶׁת בֶּן־יְהוֹנָתָ֤ן בֶּן־שָׁאוּל֙ אֶל־דָּוִ֔ד וַיִּפֹּ֥ל עַל־פָּנָ֖יו וַיִּשְׁתָּ֑חוּ וַיֹּ֤אמֶר דָּוִד֙ מְפִיבֹ֔שֶׁת וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הִנֵּ֥ה עַבְדֶּֽךָ׃
6Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David and fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, “Mephibosheth!” He answered, “I am your servant.”
“Son of x, son of y” must be rendered as “son of x and grandson of y” in Tibetan or else it will sound like two different people.
Note: The same translation solution is chosen in many contemporary English Bibles that emphasize easy readability, such as the Contemporary English Version, Common English Bible, Good News Translation, God’s Word, or New Living Translation.
See also father / grandfather.
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)
“Saul” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España
For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Saul .
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 9:6:
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.”
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: David .
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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person. In these verses, however, the more venerable anata-sama (あなた様) is used, which combines anata with the with a formal title -sama.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also formal 2nd person pronoun (Spanish) and the formal vs. the informal pronoun in the Gospels in Tuvan.
While Good News Translation usually breaks the text down into smaller sentences than Revised Standard Version, in this case Good News Translation takes the independent sentence at the beginning of this verse and makes it into a relative clause introducing the following clause. Translators should look for the structure that will be most natural.
Mephibosheth: see also comments on 4.4. This name is the cause of some confusion, because the same name is given as “Meribbaal” in 1 Chr 8.34 and 9.40. New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible read “Meribbal” here in 2 Samuel. The people of Israel came to dislike the name “Baal” and to considered it shameful because of its association with the a foreign deity. For this reason, when this word was included as a part of a personal name, it was changed to “bosheth,” which means “shame” in Hebrew. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the spelling “Mephibaal” in this verse and also in verses 9-13, and suggests that the spelling was changed to Mephibosheth in the Masoretic Text for theological reasons. Compare the situation with the names Eshbaal and Ishbosheth in 2.8.
Son of Saul: since it is Jonathan who was the son of Saul, it may be more natural in some languages to indicate that Mephibosheth was the “grandson of Saul,” as has been done in Good News Translation. This may serve to keep the focus on the relationship between Mephibosheth and Saul.
Fell on his face: this expression has already been discussed in 1 Sam 17.49 and 20.41.
Did obeisance: see the comments on 1 Sam 24.8.
Behold, your servant: similar to the response of Ziba in verse 2, this form of address shows great respect for the king. Bible en français courant says “It is indeed I, your Majesty,” using the normal form of address to royalty and confirming that the person speaking to the king is in fact who he thinks he is. In some cases translators may say “It is I, and I am your under your authority” or simply “I am your servant.”
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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