This verse begins with the Hebrew word wayehi (literally “And it was/happened”). While this discourse marker often begins a story, here it marks some important information, that is, the naming of the town of Lehi in commemoration of Samson’s victory over the Philistines. Most versions omit this expression, but King James Version keeps it by saying “And it came to pass.” If possible, it should be rendered in the translation.
When he had finished speaking: Revised Standard Version presents the action here as occurring before the next one, but some versions see the actions as simultaneous. For example, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “As he finished speaking.” Contemporary English Version uses the name “Samson” instead of the pronoun he, which other languages may find helpful. Since he had been singing a victory song, speaking may be better translated “reciting” (Boling) or “singing.” New Jerusalem Bible shortens the beginning of this verse to “And with that,” which is a good way to signal the end of this episode.
He threw away the jawbone out of his hand: Samson committed an impure act, since as a Nazirite he was not supposed to touch a fresh jawbone. The jawbone would have been even bloodier after he had killed 1,000 men! Threw away renders the same Hebrew verb translated “threw” in verse 9.53 (see comments there). Here it may be rendered “threw down” or “threw on the ground.” Contemporary English Version‘s “tossed … on the ground” might communicate a too light-hearted attitude. Out of his hand (literally “from his hand”) continues the emphasis on hand. However, in some languages a verb such as threw away will include the idea of “from his hand,” in which case, this phrase may be omitted. We might say “he threw the jawbone away” (Good News Translation), “he threw the jawbone down” ( NET Bible), or “he threw the jawbone to the ground.”
And that place was called Ramath-lehi: And renders the Hebrew waw conjunction. However, since the narrator makes a conclusion here, it may be translated “Therefore,” “That’s why,” or “For this reason.” That place was called is literally “he [Samson] called that place,” so Contemporary English Version says “[Samson] decided to call the place,” and Revised English Bible has “he called that place.” The name Ramath-lehi means “hill of the jawbone.” In Bible translation it is often difficult to know how to handle place names that have a special meaning and are tied in a special way to the story. Here translators have several options as follows: (1) transliterate the name, as in Revised Standard Version; (2) put the meaning in a footnote, as in Good News Translation; or (3) put the meaning in the text, as in Contemporary English Version. Contemporary English Version actually opts for a combination of (2) and (3) by putting the translated name in the text, with an explanation in a footnote. Some languages may want to include both the transliterated name and its meaning in the text itself. For example, this clause may be rendered “Therefore he called that place Ramath-Lehi, that is to say, ‘Jawbone Hill.’ ” Some may put “Jawbone Hill” in parentheses after the transliterated name and some may opt for only the translated name. Transliterating the name with no indication of its meaning in this context is not good translation practice, since readers would not be able to see the connection to the text. Clearly the first readers or hearers of the story, who spoke Hebrew, understood this comment.
Translation models for this verse are:
• When he finished saying that, Samson threw the jawbone away. For this reason they called that place Ramath-Lehi (Jawbone Hill).
• With that, Samson threw down the jawbone, and he named the place Jawbone Hill.
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 .