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)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 17:58:
Kupsabiny: “Saul asked David that, ‘Boy, whom do you belong to?’ David replied that, ‘Sir, I belong to Jesse of Bethlehem.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Saul asked him, "Oh young boy, whose son are you?" David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse, who lives in Bethlehem."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Saul asked him, ‘Son/(Address for a young man), whose child/(son) (are) you (sing.)?’ David replied, ‘Sir, I (am) the child/(son), of Jesse who (is) from-Betlehem.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Saul asked him, ‘Young man, whose son are you?’ David replied, ‘Sir, perhaps you have forgotten that I am the son of your servant Jesse, who has served you faithfully, who lives in Bethlehem.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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. )
And Saul said: it will be more natural in some languages to say that Saul “asked.” And where direct quotations are less common, it may be better to translate this as indirect discourse: “Saul asked the young man whose son he was.”
David refers to his father as your servant, but this should not be taken to mean that Jesse worked directly for Saul. Rather the meaning is that he was a faithful subject of King Saul. Contemporary English Version translates the meaning with “a loyal Israelite.”
Jesse the Bethlehemite: see verse 12. Other possible translations include “Jesse of Bethlehem” (Revised English Bible and New American Bible) or “Jesse, from the town of Bethlehem.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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