17Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the city was called Hormah.
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “brother” in English is translated in Kwere as sekulu, in Elhomwe as mbalaawo´, and in Mandarin Chinese as gēgē (哥哥), all “older brother.”
Note that Kwere also uses lumbu — “older sibling” in some cases. (Source for Kwere and Elhomwe: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)
In Lama it is translated as “older or younger brother.” (Source: Neal Brinneman)
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Simeon” or “Simon” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “swords,” referring to the traditional Jewish symbol for the tribe. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Judges 1:17:
Kupsabiny: “Later, the clan of Judah joined with the clan of Simeon, and (they) fought the Caananites who lived where it is called Zephath until (they) overcame (them). Those people destroyed that city completely and changed the name to become Hormah.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Then the men of the tribe of Judah went with their brothers, the Simeonites. They defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath and totally destroyed the city. So, Homah became the name of that city.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Then the tribe of Simeon also was-helped by the tribe of Juda to put-under-(their)-jurisdiction the town of Zefat where the Canaanhon also lived. They totally destroyed this city, so this was-called Horma.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The men of Judah and their fellow Israelis from the tribe of Simeon defeated the people of the Canaan people-group who lived in Zephath city. They completely destroyed the city and gave it a new name, Hormah, which means ‘complete destruction’.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
And Judah went with Simeon his brother: Translators will have to decide how to render the Hebrew waw conjunction translated And. If this is considered a new event on the story line, New International Version‘s “Then” would be a good rendering. For Judah and Simeon, as well as his brother, see verse 1.2-3. Some versions omit his brother, since this relationship has already been made clear in verse 1.3. Note, however, this phrase underlines the positive aspects of the first part of the book when brothers fought side by side, in contrast to what is to come in the final part of the book when brothers fight against each other. Went is simply the general Hebrew verb for “go.”
And they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath: The combined troops went to the Canaanite town of Zephath, a town less than 30 kilometers (18 miles) to the west of Arad. Most of this vocabulary has appeared before. For defeated see verse 1.4; for the Canaanites, see verse 1.1; and for inhabited see verse 1.9, verse 16.
And utterly destroyed it: The Hebrew verb rendered utterly destroyed is charam. The word is used often in the book of Joshua but occurs only rarely in the book of Judges (verse 1.17; verse 21.11). According to God’s command, when the Israelites captured a town, they were to “dedicate” it to the LORD, which meant destroying it completely. This was considered a holy sacrifice. Because of the religious significance of the expression utterly destroyed, translators need to find a good rendering and perhaps explain this practice in a footnote or include it in the glossary. Good News Translation says “They put a curse on the city, destroyed it,” but this rendering does not seem completely correct because curses were not part of such destruction. New Revised Standard Version and English Standard Version say “devoted it [the city] to destruction.” We can say “dedicated the town and its people to destruction” or “destroyed everything in the town as a sign of their devotion to God.” It renders the Hebrew emphatic feminine pronoun for “her,” referring to the city of Zephath. In many languages it will be more natural to say “the town/city,” as in Contemporary English Version‘s “They completely destroyed the town.” Contemporary English Version also adds the following footnote: “completely destroyed: The Hebrew word means that the town was given completely to the LORD, and since it could not be used for normal purposes any more, it had to be destroyed.”
So the name of the city was called Hormah: This sentence describes the city’s change in name as a result of what happened there. So translates the Hebrew waw conjunction, which might also be rendered by an expression such as “that’s why,” “because of this,” or “therefore.” The town’s name is changed from Zephath to Hormah, because it was utterly destroyed (charam). This play on words in Hebrew cannot be seen in the Revised Standard Version translation, but the original readers immediately saw the connection. If translators simply transliterate the name Hormah, modern readers will not get the point, but there are several options for helping the reader understand. Good News Translation explains the meaning of the name in a footnote. But translators may also insert the meaning of the name into the text, for example, “So they called the city ‘Hormah,’ which means ‘completely destroyed.’ ” Some translators actually translate the meaning of the city name within the text by saying “So the name of the city was called ‘Utterly Destroyed.’ ” Such wordplays are frequent in Hebrew literature, even in passages describing tragedies (see verse 2.5).
Models for the translation of this verse are:
• Then the men from the brother tribes of Judah and Simeon joined together and attacked the Canaanites living in the city of Zephath and they totally destroyed it.* That is why this city was called Hormah meaning “Totally Destroyed.”
* This practice involved dedicating something completely to God which included destroying it.
• Then the armies of Judah and Simeon headed out to Zephath. They devoted that city to destruction, totally destroying the town. From then, that city was called “Totally Destroyed.”
Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
1:17a Then the men of Judah went with their brothers the Simeonites,
The men of Judah went with the men of Simeon their relatives
-or-
The men ⌊of the clan⌋ of Judah went with their brothers, the men ⌊of the clan⌋ of Simeon.
1:17b attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and devoted the city to destruction.
to fight the people of Canaan who lived in Zephath. They completely destroyed that town.
-or-
They attacked the people of Canaan who lived in the town of Zephath, and totally destroyed the town.
1:17c So it was called Hormah.
They gave the town a new name, Hormah.
-or-
They ⌊renamed the town and⌋ called it Hormah ⌊which means “set apart for destruction⌋ .”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.