complete verse (2 Samuel 20:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 20:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “The soldiers of Joab came and surrounded the city of Abel-beth-maacah. Then, (they) began to build a slope (climbing thing) until it was the level of the wall of the city and (they) began to destroy that wall.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then Joab’s group came and besieged Sheba in Abel-beth-maacah. Then they piled up mud and stones to make a road to the wall which encircled the town. It was in front of the outside wall. Then they attacked it to tear it down.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When Joab and his men knew this, they went to Abel Beth Maacah and besieged it. They piled-up sand/soil beside the stone-wall so-that they could-climb-up, and they gradually destroyed the stone-wall.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The soldiers who were with Joab found out that Sheba had gone there, so they went there and surrounded the town. They built a dirt ramp up against the town wall. They also pounded against the wall with heavy poles, to cause it to collapse.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 20:15

Note that Good News Translation supplies information that the translators considered was understood in the original text, namely that Joab and his men learned of Sheba’s presence at the town of Abel-beth-maacah. And Revised Standard Version says And all the men who were with Joab came, though the Hebrew says only “and they came.” Revised Standard Version expands the text here in order to show that the subject of the verb came is Joab and his men and not the Bichrites, as in verse 14. If, however, the recommendation of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project is followed for the translation of verse 14, then Joab’s men are already the subject of the verb in the previous verse. Whichever interpretation is followed, the translation of this verse must be consistent with the interpretation followed in verse 14.

In Abel of Beth-maacah: see the comments on this place name in the previous verse.

This verse describes the way in which a walled city was normally besieged during the time of David. The attacking soldiers built up mounds of earth against the city wall. At the same time they would pound on the wall with heavy poles in an attempt to make it fall down. The Hebrew participle translated they were battering is from a verb meaning “to spoil,” “to ruin,” or “to wipe out.” Some understand the means to be by undermining (so Holladay, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and Good News Translation), and others, by battering (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible).

The word translated rampart usually refers to an outer embankment built up against a wall, but the word may in some instances refer to the wall itself. The preposition connected to this noun may be translated “against” or “beside.” The exact details are not clear, and the different translations reflect the uncertainty: “They heaped up a ramp towards the city and it stood already by the outer wall” (Anderson); “they threw up a ramp against the outer wall of the town” (New Jerusalem Bible). The general sense is clear, however; a mound of dirt and rocks was built up against the city wall as a ramp in order for the soldiers to attack the wall.

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 .