The Greek and Hebrew that is translated with “mule” in English is translated in Swahili with nyumbu which also is a homonym for “wildebeest,” potentially causing confusion.
In Kutu it is translated with “big donkey” because there is no other adequate term in Kutu. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In the HausaCommon Language Bible it is translated jakin-doki or “donkey-horse,” since mules are also not known in Nigeria. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The word pirdah refers to the female mule while pered can refer to either the male or the female. In biblical times mules were used for riding and as pack animals while horses were mainly used to pull military chariots. They appear to have been introduced into Canaan much later than horses. Mules are not mentioned in the Bible until the time of David while horses are mentioned in the Joseph story and in Deuteronomy 17:16 where the king is forbidden to acquire them. Technically the owning of mules was not prohibited although the breeding of them would have fallen under the prohibition of Leviticus 19:19, which forbade the cross-breeding of animals. The Israelites thus seem to have relied on mules imported from neighboring countries.
The mule is not an animal found naturally anywhere, but is the result of people breeding male donkeys with female horses. It is also possible to breed male horses with female donkeys, but the offspring, technically called “hinnies”, not “mules”, are usually smaller than mules. Mules are bigger and stronger than donkeys and are much more resistant to disease than either horses or donkeys. They are usually dark brown with bigger ears than the parent horse.
Although there are male and female mules they are infertile and not able to breed. This makes the stronger males much easier to handle than stallions.
Although the mule in English is associated with stubbornness this is not usually the case in other cultures since mules are very easy to handle if treated properly. In Psalms 32:9 the mule is linked to the horse as both being animals that lack sufficient understanding and need to be guided in the right direction.
Even in languages of societies that know mules, they are often referred to as “horse-donkeys”, or “donkey-horses”. This seems to be a good translation solution even in languages that have no word for mule.
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is transliterated as “Solomon” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “wise” referring to 1 Kings 3:12. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
In Malay, the pronoun beta for the royal “I” (or “my” or “me”) that is used by royals when speaking to people of lower rank, subordinates or commoners to refer to themselves in these verses. This reflects the “language of the court because the monarchy and sultanate in Malaysia are still alive and well. All oral and printed literature (including newspapers and magazines) preserve and glorify the language of the court. Considering that the language of the court is part of the Malaysian language, court language is used sparingly where appropriate, specifically with texts relating to palace life.” (Source: Daud Soesilo in The Bible Translator 2025, p. 263ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 1:33:
Kupsabiny: “The king said to them, ‘Take (plur.) my guards plus Solomon and go down to Gihon. Let Solomon sit on my horse (mule).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The King said to them, "Take along my officials and my son Solomon to Gihon Spring, riding on my mule.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “and the king said to them, ‘You (plur.) have- my child Solomon -ride on my horse, and you (plur.) bring/take him as-well-as my officers to Gihon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “he said to them, ‘Put my son Solomon on my mule. Take him with my officials down to Gihon Spring.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
The king: For reasons of English style, Good News Translation uses the pronoun “he” rather than repeat the words the king.
David refers to himself in both the third person (your lord) and the first person (my). If this change of person will be confusing in the receptor language, it may be best to use first person pronouns throughout, as in Good News Translation. In the Hebrew, lord is plural, which indicates honor and authority in this context.
As in verse 2, the servants may be “court officials,” and not simply domestic servants. But in light of the parallel with verse 38, the reference here appears to be the “bodyguards” of the king (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Another possible translation of the servants of your lord in the present context is “the officials who are loyal to me.”
Cause … to ride: The causative verb form used here may be difficult to translate in some languages. Some other ways of expressing the same idea will be to use the verbs “put … on” (New Century Version), “set … on” (New International Version), or “mount … on” (Revised English Bible). But in other cases translators may have to say something like “tell [my son Solomon] to get on.”
A mule is an animal born of a horse and a donkey, usually a female horse and a male donkey. Although the crossbreeding of animals was forbidden in Israel (Lev 19.19), these animals were apparently imported or taken from other peoples at the time of David and later (see 1 Kgs 10.24-25; Ezek 27.14). Compare Psa 32.9, where the terms “horse” and “mule” are mentioned together. Even in areas where horses are known, people may be unfamiliar with mules. And in other languages the same word is used to speak of a horse, a mule, and a donkey. Some may find it necessary to borrow the word and add a classifier term. But since the precise distinction is unimportant here, it would even be possible to translate “riding animal” or something similar. The Hebrew noun here refers specifically to a female mule. For the ancient Israelites, the mule was a symbol of royal office (Zech 9.9). So having Solomon ride on David’s mule would make a strong statement about David’s choice of a successor even before the other events described in the following verses.
Bring him down to Gihon: In English the verb bring implies that David himself is at Gihon, but since David is in his palace in Jerusalem, it will be better in English to say “Take him down to…” (New Century Version). The Hebrew verb here is literally “cause to go [or, come] down.” Since the Gihon Spring was lower in elevation than the palace, the idea of movement downward is realistic. Translators should feel free to use whatever verb would naturally be used in such a situation in their language.
Gihon was a spring located just outside the wall of Jerusalem on the east side. This spring was the main source of water for the city. As were many other springs, Gihon was probably considered a sacred place. Translators should probably state explicitly that Gihon is a spring, as in Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Bible en français courant. Otherwise, readers are likely to think this name refers to a town.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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