complete verse (1 Samuel 21:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 21:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those leaders took David to Achish. Then Achish told those people that, ‘What do you expect me to do to such a mad man whom you have brought to me?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then Achish said to his servants, "Look, this man is a madman. Why have you brought him to me?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So Akish said to his officials, ‘[You (plur.)] look! That man (is) insane! Why have- you (plur.) -brought him to me?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then King Achish said to his men, ‘Look at this man! He is acting like an insane man! Why have you brought him to me?” (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 21:14

Servants: see the comments on verse 11.

Lo translates the Hebrew word traditionally rendered “Behold.” Here it is used to focus attention on the unusual situation of having an apparently insane person in the presence of the king.

Mad: not angry but “insane” (Revised English Bible) or “crazy” (Contemporary English Version).

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 .