bronze

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “bronze” in English is translated in Newari as “bell-metal,” since bells are made of bronze in Nepal (source: Newari Back Translation).

See also bronze vessel.

complete verse (2 Samuel 3:34)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 3:34:

  • Kupsabiny: “Your hands were not tied
    or the legs.
    You were murdered by sinners.’
    Then all the people continued to cry.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Your hands were not bound.
    Your feet were also not bound.
    [Rather], you fell down like one who falls into the hands of the wicked."
    Then the people wept for him again.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “His hands and feet were- not -bound; he was-killed by the wicked people.’
    All the people wept again for Abner.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “No one tied his hands or put chains on his feet, like they do to criminals.
    No, he was murdered by wicked men!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 3:34

Your hands … your feet: David’s lament shifts from the indirect statement about Abner to a direct address to the dead person (as in 1.26). In some languages it is quite appropriate to speak to a dead person as long as the person is not yet buried. In many languages, however, this will need to be changed to indirect reference (third person singular pronoun) as in Good News Translation. In others, however, it may be better to change verse 33 and begin addressing Abner from the start, saying something like “Abner, why did they take your life like that of a renegade?”

A manuscript from Qumran reads slightly differently from the Masoretic Text at the beginning of this verse, but the major difference is that the manuscript from Qumran adds the word “in chains” after Your hands were not bound. This reading is followed in some translations (New American Bible, Anchor Bible, Anderson). Another difference is that the position of the negative is different in the Qumran manuscript. Compare Anchor Bible, which follows the Qumran manuscript:

• Your hands were bound—though not by manacles!
Your feet—though not by fetters—were confined!

Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives a {B} evaluation to the Masoretic Text and recommends that it be followed. For reasons of translation, however, it may be acceptable or necessary to specify the object by which the hands were not bound.

As one falls: in this context the verb “fall,” of course, means to die.

The wicked: literally “the sons of wickedness.” The kind of people portrayed are characterized by deception and betrayal. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh speaks of “treacherous men,” while Knox has “ruthless men,” and An American Translation renders these words “bandits.”

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 .