28Also all that Samuel the seer, and Saul son of Kish, and Abner son of Ner, and Joab son of Zeruiah had dedicated—all dedicated gifts were in the care of Shelomoth and his brothers.
The Hebrew that is translated as “Joab (also: Abishai) the son of Zeruiah” in English presented a problem in Maan. “In a patriarchal society like Mano, Zeruiah is assumed to be the father of Joab. Since we know that she was his mother (see 2Sam 17:25), we expressed this phrase as ‘Joab whose mother was Zeruiah.'” (Source: Don Slager)
In Batak Karo, Zeruiah also has to be identified as a woman. M.K. Sembiring (in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 217ff. ) explains: “Unlike the Hebrew language, nouns in Batak Karo have no gender. The literal translation of the biblical names therefore does not indicate whether they are female or male names. Names are generally understood as male names when they occur in expressions like ‘the son of…’ or ‘the daughter of…,’ because in the Karo culture, if ever the names of the parents are mentioned, it is usually the name of the father that is used in identifying the children. For example, 1 Sam 26:6 says, ‘Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab’s brother Abishai the son of Zeruiah,’Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” In Hebrew, Zeruiah will be recognized as a female name because of its ending, but in Karo the name will be considered as a male name for the reason given above. It is necessary then to identify Zeruiah as a female name by saying that Zeruiah was the mother of Joab and Abishai. The translation of the first part of that verse into Batak Karo is as follows,’Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab’s brother Abishai (the mother of these two is Zeruiah)…'”
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)
The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Samuel” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “listen” referring to 1 Samuel 3:10. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 26:28:
Kupsabiny: “Shelomoth and his brothers were also in charge of all the things that Samuel, Saul, Abner and Joab had set aside.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Shelomith and his relatives had the responsibility for all the things that were dedicated by Samuel the prophet, Saul the son of Kish, Abner the son of Ner, and Joab son of Zeruiah.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Shelomit and his blood-relatives also were- the -ones-who-took-care of all that Prophet Samuel, Saul the child of Kish, Abner the child of Ner, and Joab the child of Zeruya had-offered. The other-things that were-offered/dedicated they also took-care-of.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “And Shelomith and his relatives were also in charge of everything that had been dedicated to Yahweh by the prophet Samuel, by King Saul, and by David’s two army commanders Ner and Joab.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Also all that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah had dedicated: Samuel, Saul, and Abner— and probably Joab also–had died or been killed before the construction of the Temple. The sense must be that they had given gifts for use in the Tabernacle, which existed before the Temple was built (see 2 Sam 6.17). For Samuel the seer, see the comments on 1 Chr 9.22. Revised Standard Version follows the form of the Hebrew by saying Saul the son of Kish. The phrase the son of Kish would have identified this Saul as the first king of Israel for the original readers. However, since many readers today will not know who Saul the son of Kish was, some modern versions add the word “King” and omit the phrase the son of Kish (so Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). Abner was Saul’s general, and Joab was David’s general. Since most readers will assume that Zeruiah was Joab’s father, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje renders Joab the son of Zeruiah as “Joab, whose mother was named Zeruiah” (see the comments on 1 Chr 11.6).
All dedicated gifts were in the care of Shelomoth and his brethren: The Hebrew word translated dedicated gifts is an active participle, which is more literally “who dedicated [gifts].” However, Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia suggests that the Hebrew participle should be corrected to a passive form, as in Revised Standard Version, which is surely the required sense. The name Shelomoth is spelled “Shelomith” in the Masoretic Text (see the comments on verse 25).
Good News Translation restructures this verse by shifting the final clause to the beginning, which may be a helpful model in other languages.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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