sheep

“Sheep are known throughout most of the world, even though, as in Central Africa, they are a far cry from the fleecy wool-producing animals of colder climates. Where such animals are known, even by seemingly strange names, e.g. ‘cotton deer’ (Yucateco) or ‘woolly goat’ (Inupiaq), such names should be used. In some instances, one may wish to borrow a name and use a classifier, e.g. ‘an animal called sheep’. In still other instances translators have used ‘animal which produces wool’, for though people are not acquainted with the animals they are familiar with wool.” (Source: Bratcher / Nida)

In Dëne Súline, it is usually translated as “an evil little caribou.” To avoid the negative connotation, a loan word from the neighboring South Slavey was used. (Source: NCEM, p. 70)

Note that the often-alleged Inuktitut translation of “sheep” with “seal” is an urban myth (source Nida 1947, p. 136).

See also lamb and sheep / lamb.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (1Sam 25:16)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding Abigail.

complete verse (1 Samuel 25:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 25:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those people where like a wall which surrounded us the whole day and night in all the days when we were together looking after the sheep and goats.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “When we went to graze our sheep, at those times, they would stay around us day and night like a wall.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They protected us (excl.) day and night when we (excl.) were-watching the sheep.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They protected us during the daytime and during the night. They were like a wall around us to protect us while we were taking care of our sheep.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 25:16

They were a wall to us: this is figurative language, meaning that David and his men provided protection for Nabal’s young men. See the same imagery in Zech 2.5. This may be translated by changing the Hebrew image into nonfigurative language, as Good News Translation has done, or by making the comparison more evident: “they were like a protecting wall around us” (Bible en français courant). Contemporary English Version has these men say “With them around day or night, we were as safe as we would have been inside a walled city.”

Both by night and by day: in some languages this expression may be more naturally translated by an adverb like “constantly” or “continuously.” It really serves only to emphasize all the while.

Sheep: a more general term is preferable here, since it is quite probable that this refers not only to sheep but also to goats, though in 25.2 this same term clearly refers to sheep only. See the comments at 8.17.

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 .