messenger

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “messenger” in English is translated in Noongar as moort yana-waangki or “person walk-talk” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

complete verse (2 Samuel 11:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 11:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “So, that person went and told David like the way Joab said.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The man who brought that news went and, when he arrived at David’s place, he gave him all the news, just as Joab had said.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The messenger went, and when- he -arrived to David he told him everything that Joab had-(him)-to-say.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So the messenger went and told David everything that Joab told him to say.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

David

The name that is transliterated as “David” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign signifying king and a sling (referring to 1 Samuel 17:49 and 2 Samuel 5:4). (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


“Elizabeth” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In German Sign Language it is only the sling. (See here ).


“David” in German Sign Language (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

The (Protestant) Mandarin Chinese transliteration of “David” is 大卫 (衛) / Dàwèi which carries an additional meaning of “Great Protector.”

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

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: David .

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 11:22

So: the messenger went to David as a result of Joab’s instructions and probably did so immediately. The transition word used in the receptor language should convey this idea.

Went, and came: in many languages it will be unnatural to use these two verbs together. Translators will have to decide which one is more natural in this context. Or it is possible to translate the first “left Joab” and the second “came to the place where David was.” New American Bible and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy have something similar, with “the messenger set out, and on his arrival….”

Good News Translation transposes “to David” so that it becomes the grammatical object of the verb went rather than told. It then has “and told him,” to keep clear that he spoke to David.

Sent him to tell: that is, what Joab had “instructed him to say” or “ordered him to report.”

The Septuagint contains the following paragraph at the end of this verse:

• And David was angry with Joab and said to the messenger, “Why did you draw near to the city to fight? Did you not know that you would be wounded from the wall? Who struck Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal? Did not a woman cast upon him a piece of millstone from the wall, and he died in Thebez? Why did you draw near to the wall?”

This addition is the basis for the translations in Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Osty-Trinquet, and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy. McCarter (Anchor Bible) argues that neither the Masoretic Text nor the Septuagint preserve the original text here. As the text is reconstructed in Anchor Bible, much of this longer addition is placed in verse 24.

This is obviously a difficult textual problem. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating to the Masoretic Text here and suggests that the longer reading found in the Septuagint is the result of a deliberate repetition of the words from verses 20-21. But if translators decide to follow the Septuagint here, they should clearly indicate in a footnote that the Masoretic Text does not have this longer text.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .