In Malay, the pronoun beta for the royal “I” (or “my” or “me”) that is used by royals when speaking to people of lower rank, subordinates or commoners to refer to themselves in these verses. This reflects the “language of the court because the monarchy and sultanate in Malaysia are still alive and well. All oral and printed literature (including newspapers and magazines) preserve and glorify the language of the court. Considering that the language of the court is part of the Malaysian language, court language is used sparingly where appropriate, specifically with texts relating to palace life.” (Source: Daud Soesilo in The Bible Translator 2025, p. 263ff.)
righteous, righteousness
The Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms that are translated in English mostly as “righteous” as an adjective or personified noun or “righteousness” (also as “upright(ness)” and “just(ice)”) are most commonly expressed with concept of “straightness,” though this may be expressed in a number of ways. (Click or tap here to see the details)
Following is a list of (back-) translations of various languages:
- Bambara, Southern Bobo Madaré, Chokwe (ululi), Amganad Ifugao, Chol, Eastern Maninkakan, Toraja-Sa’dan, Pamona, Batak Toba, Bilua, Tiv: “be straight”
- Laka: “follow the straight way” or “to straight-straight” (a reduplicated form for emphasis)
- Sayula Popoluca: “walk straight”
- Highland Puebla Nahuatl, Kekchí, Muna: “have a straight heart”
- Kipsigis: “do the truth”
- Mezquital Otomi: “do according to the truth”
- Huautla Mazatec: “have truth”
- Yine: “fulfill what one should do”
- Indonesian: “be true”
- Navajo (Dinė): “do just so”
- Anuak: “do as it should be”
- Mossi: “have a white stomach” (see also happiness / joy)
- Paasaal: “white heart” (source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
- (San Mateo del Mar Huave: “completely good” (the translation does not imply sinless perfection)
- Nuer: “way of right” (“there is a complex concept of “right” vs. ‘left’ in Nuer where ‘right’ indicates that which is masculine, strong, good, and moral, and ‘left’ denotes what is feminine, weak, and sinful (a strictly masculine viewpoint!) The ‘way of right’ is therefore righteousness, but of course women may also attain this way, for the opposition is more classificatory than descriptive.”) (This and all above from Bratcher / Nida except for Bilua: Carl Gross; Tiv: Rob Koops; Muna: René van den Berg)
- Central Subanen: “wise-good” (source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. )
- Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “live well”
- Mezquital Otomi: “goodness before the face of God” (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl: “the result of heart-straightening” (source: Nida 1947, p. 224)
- Eastern Highland Otomi: “entirely good” (when referred to God), “do good” or “not be a debtor as God sees one” (when referred to people)
- Carib: “level”
- Tzotzil: “straight-hearted”
- Ojitlán Chinantec: “right and straight”
- Yatzachi Zapotec: “walk straight” (source for this and four previous: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
- Makonde: “doing what God wants” (in a context of us doing) and “be good in God’s eyes” (in the context of being made righteous by God) (note that justify / justification is translated as “to be made good in the eyes of God.” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
- Aari: The Pauline word for “righteous” is generally rendered by “makes one without sin” in the Aari, sometimes “before God” is added for clarity. (Source: Loren Bliese)
- North Alaskan Inupiatun: “having sin taken away” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 144)
- Nyamwezi: wa lole: “just” or “someone who follows the law of God” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
- Venda: “nothing wrong, OK” (Source: J.A. van Roy in The Bible Translator 1972, p. 418ff. )
- Ekari: maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (the same word that is also used for “truth“; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
- Guhu-Samane: pobi or “right” (also: “right (side),” “(legal) right,” “straightness,” “correction,” “south,” “possession,” “pertinence,” “kingdom,” “fame,” “information,” or “speech” — “According to [Guhu-Samane] thinking there is a common core of meaning among all these glosses. Even from an English point of view the first five can be seen to be closely related, simply because of their similarity in English. However, from that point the nuances of meaning are not so apparent. They relate in some such a fashion as this: As one faces the morning sun, south lies to the right hand (as north lies to the left); then at one’s right hand are his possessions and whatever pertains to him; thus, a rich man’s many possessions and scope of power and influence is his kingdom; so, the rich and other important people encounter fame; and all of this spreads as information and forms most of the framework of the people’s speech.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in Notes on Translation 1964, p. 11ff.)
- German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Gerechtheit, a neologism to differentiate it from the commonly-used Gerechtigkeit which can mean “righteousness” but is more often used in modern German as “fairness” (Berger / Nord especially use Gerechtheit in Letter to the Romans) or Gerechtestun, also a neologism, meaning “righteous deeds” (especially in Letter to the Ephesians)
- “did what he should” (Eastern Highland Otomi)
- “a clear man, good [man]” (Mairasi) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
See also respectable, righteous, righteous (person), devout, and She is more in the right(eous) than I.
complete verse (2 Samuel 4:11)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 4:11:
- Kupsabiny: “So, if I was able to do to that person like that, how about you sinners who killed without a word/cause a person who was simply sleeping in his house. Do you think I cannot manage to destroy you completely to pay for/revenge his life?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
- Newari: “But if an innocent man is killed who has no guilt is killed on his own bed in his own house, how much more reward must be given! Should I not now revenge for you killing him and remove you from the world?’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “Now, you (plur.) wicked-ones I will-punish more than this, for you (plur.) killed a man [linker]without sin, who was- still -sleeping on his bed in his house. I will-ask-payment (from) you (plur.) for killing him so-that you (plur.) will-vanish/disappear/be-lost (from) the earth.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- English: “So because you two evil men murdered a man who is innocent/has done nothing wrong when he was sleeping on his bed in his own house, I will do something worse to you. I will surely get revenge on you two for murdering him, and wipe you/cause you to disappear from the earth!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.
Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 4:11
How much more: instead of beginning with this interrogative-sounding introduction, it will be preferable in quite a few languages to say something like “It will be much worse for the evil people who have killed an innocent man while he was sleeping.” Note also that in this verse the wicked men are contrasted with the person they killed, who is described as a righteous man. This contrast should be maintained in translation if possible.
Shall I not…? What follows is in the form of a question, but the answer is obvious. For this reason the question may be transformed into an emphatic statement beginning with something like “I will certainly….”
Require his blood at your hand: a literal translation of this expression will almost certainly be unnatural or misleading in most languages. The idea to be translated is “hold you responsible for his death” or “consider you accountable for killing him.”
The conjunction and between the last two clauses in this verse may be misleading if translated literally. The relationship between considering these men guilty of murder and their eventual destruction is that of cause and effect. The last part of the verse may therefore be translated “I will now destroy you from the earth because you are guilty of murdering him.”
Destroy you from the earth: this can mean either “purge you from the land [of Israel]” (Anchor Bible) or “rid the earth of you” (New International Version). In either case the guilty men are to be killed.
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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