One who puts on armor should not brag like one who takes it off

The Hebrew in 1 Kings 20:11 that is translated as “One who puts on armour should not brag like one who takes it off” or similar in English is translated in Chitonga with the existing idiom “A man is a buffalo” (i.e., one cannot brag that he is as strong as a water buffalo until after he has defeated his opponent) and in Chichewa (interconfessional translation) as “You’re as good as your fellow upon the anthill only after you’ve climbed up there yourself.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 107)

complete verse (1 Kings 20:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 20:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “Ahab responded to those people, ‘Go and tell him that a person should only boast after he has defeated (the enemy) and not when he going for war.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The King of Israel replied, "Speak to him like this: "It is not good for a person who puts on his armor to boast like a person who takes it off."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The king of Israel replied, ‘You (plur.) tell him that a soldier who is- still -preparing to fight should not boast like a soldier who has already finished a battle.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “King Ahab replied to the messengers, ‘Tell King Ben-Hadad that a soldier who is putting on his armor preparing to fight a battle should not boast at that time; he should wait until after he wins the battle.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

king

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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:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • 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.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 20:11

Answered is literally “answered and said.”

Tell him means tell King Benhadad. Good News Translation has again changed the embedded quotation into an indirect quotation.

Let not him that girds on his armor boast himself as he that puts it off: These sixteen words in Revised Standard Version render only four words in Hebrew. Because of the short expression here in Hebrew, some interpreters think that Ahab is quoting a well-known saying or proverb. This interpretation is reflected in the following translations of Tell him: “Remind Ben Hadad of this proverb…” (Parole de Vie; similarly Bible en français courant) and “Tell him of the saying…” (Revised English Bible).

Translators must decide whether a literal rendering of the king’s words will express the intended meaning. Good News Translation restructures them to express the meaning clearly in English, but relies on the use of italics to convey meaning. The soldier who is going into battle may boast of his bravery, but that kind of boasting should not be compared to the kind of boasting of a soldier who has fought in battle and has earned the right to boast. Some possible models are “The strength of a soldier is not known before the fighting, but only after he wins” and “The one who leaves for battle must not boast as if he were returning as a conqueror” (Bible en français courant). See also New Living Translation: “A warrior still dressing for battle should not boast like a warrior who has already won.” The thought is similar to that in Eccl 7.8, which states “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.” A footnote in Nouvelle Bible Segond gives the modern French equivalent as “You shouldn’t sell the skin of the bear before you kill it,” which is roughly equivalent to the English saying “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.” It is better to place such equivalent proverbs in a footnote rather than in the text since there is a danger that proverbs in the receptor language are not really equivalent to the original meaning.

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 .