The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Saul” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign that depicts “sword in chest” (referring to 1 Samuel 31:4 and 1 Chronicles 10:4) and also “self-centered.” (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 3:10:
Kupsabiny: “he would remove the rulership/kingship from the house of Saul and the rulership of David in Israel and Judah would grow strong, beginning from the town of Dan in the North until the one (town) of Beersheba in the South.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “I will do the work of pushing Saul’s family down and putting David on the throne over Israel and Judah, from Dan to Beersheba."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The LORD had-promised that he will- no-longer -allow-to reign any descendants of Saul but-rather David now whom he will-cause-to-reign in Israel and in Juda, from Dan to Beersheba.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Yahweh solemnly promised that he would not allow Saul and his descendants to continue to rule. He promised that he would cause David to rule over all the tribes of Israel and Judah, from Dan city far in the north to Beersheba city far in the south. So I hope/desire that God will punish me severely if I do not enable that to happen!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
These two verses constitute a single sentence in Revised Standard Version. New Century Version, on the other hand, covers the same material with five sentences. Note that Good News Translation has restructured these two verses so that the content cannot be divided according to the verse numbers. While such radical restructuring may not be necessary, it is almost certainly a good idea to deal with the material in two or more sentences. The basic elements of these verses in the order they are presented are as follows:
9a. Abner asks God to punish him.
9b. Abner will help David.
9c. The LORD made a promise to David.
10a. God said he would take the kingship away from Saul’s family.
10b. God said David would rule Israel and Judah.
10c. The kingdom will extend from Dan to Beersheba.
The plea that God punish Abner is conditional on his not doing as he promised, that is, on his not helping David to become king. Because of the conditional nature of this request, it may be better not to place it at the very beginning of this passage, depending upon the customary way of expressing an oath in the receptor language.
God do so … and more also: this constituted a very strong oath or, as it is sometimes called, a curse formula. It is found twelve times in the Old Testament. In Ruth 1.17 and 1 Sam 20.13 the subject is “the LORD” instead of “God,” but the expression is very similar. And in 1 Kgs 19.2 and 20.10 it is “the gods,” since the Hebrew verb is plural in form. When this oath was made, it was probably also accompanied by a gesture, possibly indicating the cutting of the throat. Moffatt has “God kill Abner and worse.”
To Abner: since it is Abner who is speaking, it will be quite unnatural in most languages for him to refer to himself in this way. The idea is clearly “May God do so to me….”
Set up the throne of David over: this is merely a way of saying “make David king over” or “cause David to rule.”
From Dan to Beer-sheba: this all-inclusive expression is discussed under 1 Sam 3.20. It also occurs three more times in 2 Samuel in addition to the present passage (17.11; 24.2, 15), as well as in Judges 20.1. Although Good News Translation has dropped the form altogether in favor of the meaning, it is possible to maintain the geographic names while at the same time conveying something of the meaning: “all the way from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south” (Contemporary English Version).
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 .
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