son of

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “son of” in English is translated in all Icelandic Bible versions of the Icelandic Bible Society (latest edition 2007) in parallel with the Icelandic naming system . This means that for instance in Matthew 16:17 the name that is transliterated and translated in English as “Simon son of Jonah” becomes “Simon Jónasson” or in Isaiah 8:2 “Zechariah son of Jeberechiah” becomes “Sakaría Jeberekíason” where in both cases the “-son” means “son of.”

In cases where “son of” does not refer to a literal father or perhaps stepfather but to lineage, however, this system is not used. So in Matthew 1:1 “Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” is translated as “Jesú Krists, sonar Davíðs, sonar Abrahams.”

The referenced verses all have at least one instance where the Icelandic patronymic or matronymic naming system is used. (Source: Halldór Elías Guðmundsson)

See also daughter of.

complete verse (Jeremiah 41:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 41:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “When all the people whom Ishmael had taken as prisoners looked behind, they saw Johanan son of Kareah and/with all the military leaders whom he came with. Then they became very happy.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When the captives of Ishmael saw Johanan and his fellow/companion officials, they were glad.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When all the people whom Ishmael and his men had captured saw Johanan and the soldiers who were with him, they shouted joyfully.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 41:13

When all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan … they rejoiced: This sounds as though Ishmael’s men were happy to see Johanan approaching. However, the reference is obviously to the people Ishmael had taken prisoner, as Good News Translation makes clear: “When Ishmael’s prisoners saw Johanan … they were glad.” This interpretation is supported by the first part of verse 14, which identifies all the people as those “whom Ishmael had carried away captive.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .