Philistines

The term that is transliterated as “Philistines” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that signifies the helmet the Philistine warriors wore was decorated with feather-like objects. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Philistines” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Philistines (source: Bible Lands 2012)

army

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin that is translated as “army” in English is translated in Chichewa as “group of warriors.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (1 Samuel 23:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 23:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “But his people told David that, ‘If/Since we are now scared here in Judah, then what can be said if we try to go and fight the Philistines in Keilah?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “But David’s people said to him, "We are afraid even here in Judah. If we go to attack the Philistine soldiers in Keliah will it not be even more difficult?"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But the men of David said, ‘We (excl.) (are) indeed afraid here in Juda; how much more when going to Keila and fighting with the Filistinhon.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But David’s men said to him, ‘We are afraid that Saul will attack us here in Judah. We will be more afraid if we go to Keilah where the Philistia army is!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

behold / look / see (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God or a person or persons to be greatly honored, the honorific prefix go- (御 or ご) can be used, as in go-ran (ご覧), a combination of “behold / see” (ran) and the honorific prefix go-.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also Japanese benefactives (goran).

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 23:3

Since the reaction of David’s men is contrary to what the LORD had instructed David to do, the common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse is correctly translated But.

Behold: see page 18.

Here in Judah: Keilah was in the territory of Judah (see verse 1), but it was nearer to Philistine territory than to where David and his men had been staying. It is also possible that it was not under the control of the Israelites at the time these events took place.

How much more then …: Hebrew leaves implicit the verb “be afraid” in this phrase. Compare New Century Version, which restructures the last part of this verse, making two separate sentences of the rhetorical question: “We’re afraid here in Judah. We will be much more afraid if we go to Keilah, where the Philistine army is.” Contemporary English Version provides a slightly different model: “Look, even here in Judah we’re afraid of the Philistines. We will be terrified if we try to fight them at Keilah!”

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 .