complete verse (1 Samuel 20:37)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 20:37:

  • Kupsabiny: “That servant went, and when he was about to reach where the arrow hit, Jonathan called him that, ‘The arrow is in front of you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “As he got to the place where Jonathan shot the arrow, Jonathan yelled loudly like this, "Look, the arrow is beyond you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When the child/(boy) arrived at the-place-where- the arrow -had-fallen/landed, Jonatan shouted, ‘The arrow (is) beyond/ahead of you (sing.). Hurry, then get (it)!’ The child/(boy) picked-up the arrow and returned to Jonatan his master.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When the boy ran to the place where the arrow hit the ground, Jonathan called out, ‘The arrow is further away!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

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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. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 20:37

The place of the arrow: that is, “the place where the arrow was lying.” It will be redundant in some languages to say which Jonathan had shot. When mention is made of the arrow, this will be understood as implied.

Jonathan’s question to the boy is introduced with a Hebrew particle that has an exclamatory nuance. The question may be translated by a statement, “But the arrow is in front of you!”

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 .