Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 25:11:
Kupsabiny: “But Amaziah became brave and led his soldiers towards the Valley of Salt. When he came there, he killed ten thousand of the people of Seir.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Then Amaziah picked up his courage and led his army to the valley of salt. Then he went into battle from there and killed 10,000 Edomite soldiers.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Amazia courageously attack, and he led his soldiers to go to the valley called Salt, where they were-able-to-kill 10,000 Edomnon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then Amaziah became brave, and he led his army to the Salt Valley. There they killed 10,000 men from the Edom people-group.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”
This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.
But Amaziah took courage: But renders the common Hebrew conjunction as a contrastive connector. Even though Amaziah lost the help of the Israelite troops, he still had confidence to attack the Edomites. It is also possible to understand this conjunction as a temporal connector (so New Living Translation with “Then”). The expression took courage renders a reflexive verb in Hebrew that is literally “strengthened himself” (NASB). It may be rendered “acted with renewed confidence” (similarly Knox) or “became very brave” (New Century Version).
And led out his people, and went to the Valley of Salt: As is often true in military contexts in the Old Testament, the Hebrew noun for people may be rendered “army” (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant). The Valley of Salt was a wide valley running south from the Dead Sea. It is also mentioned in 1 Chr 18.12 as the place where Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, killed eighteen thousand Edomites (see the comments there).
And smote ten thousand men of Seir: The archaic verb smote is better rendered “killed” (Good News Translation) in English. This verb is third person singular in Hebrew, so Amaziah is the subject. But the sense is that he led his men in killing the Edomites, not that he himself killed them. The context of this verse implies that the Edomites were killed in battle, not that they were massacred. For this reason Good News Translation makes explicit the fact that “they fought.” Seir was a mountain range that ran the length of the region of Edom, southeast of Judah. Sometimes in the Old Testament Seir is used as a synonym for the name Edom (see the comments on 1 Chr 4.42 and 2 Chr 20.10). Instead of the less well-known name Seir, many modern versions use the name “Edom/Edomite” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, Bible en français courant). New Living Translation has both names by rendering men of Seir as “Edomite troops from Seir.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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