19Some of the Manassites deserted to David when he came with the Philistines for the battle against Saul. (Yet he did not help them, for the rulers of the Philistines took counsel and sent him away, saying, “He will desert to his master Saul at the cost of our heads.”)
The term that is transliterated as “Philistines” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that signifies the helmet the Philistine warriors wore was decorated with feather-like objects. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Philistines” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Philistines (source: Bible Lands 2012)
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)
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, the Jarai translation uses the inclusive pronoun, including everyone. The Adamawa Fulfulde translation uses the exclusive pronoun.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 12:19:
Kupsabiny: “There was a time when David was going with the Philistines to fight against Saul. At that time, some soldiers from the clan of Manasseh left Saul and joined David. But the leaders of those Philistines held a council and said, ‘We die if this fellow turns against us and joins with his master Saul.’ So, those leaders chased David to go to Ziklag together with his people” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “When David, having joined with the Philistines to go to war with Saul, some soldiers of the tribe of Manasseh escaped to David’s place. He did not actually help the Philistines, however, because the Philistine rulers, having given advice like this, sent him back. "If this one abandons us and unites with his own master, we will no longer have our heads."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “There were also men who came from the tribe of Manase who went with David when he went-with the Filistinhon to fight against Saul. But what-happened, the Filistinhon did- not -agree that David and his men sould-go-with, for they thought that David might be loyal again to Saul. So after their discussion, they caused- David -to-return to Ziklag.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “So David welcomed those men, and he appointed them to be leaders of his soldiers. Some men from the tribe of Manasseh also joined David when he went with the soldiers of Philistia to fight against Saul’s army. But David and his men did not really help the army of Philistia. After the leaders of Philistia talked about David and his soldiers, they sent David away. They said, ‘If David joins his master Saul again, we will all be killed {his army will kill all of us}!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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