The Hebrew that is translated as “steadfast love,” “lovingkindness” (Goldingay 2018: “commitment”) or similar in English is translated in a number of ways:
Vidunda: “love of enduring” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Bura-Pabir: “love which cannot be-changed” (hyirkur na a palidzi wa)
HausaCommon Language Bible “his love without changing” (kaunarsa marar canjawa) (source for this and above: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Elhomwe: “love that does not finish” (echikondi yoohisintheya) (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Nyamwezi: chelu, combining “love,” “faithfulness,” “loyalty,” and “kindness” (source: James Lundeen)
Newari: dayāmāyā (दयामाया), a compound word made from two Sanskrit-derived terms: dayā (दया) or “compassion, mercy, kindness” and māyā (माया) or “love, affection” (source: Newari Back Translation)
In Pijintinghevi long or “think heavy about” is used. “The Pijin expression ‘think heavy about’ is very much within the domain of committed relationships. The relationship between father and child, husband and wife, God and His people. There is a very strong element of ‘loyalty’ in this expression.” (Source: Bob Carter)
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 Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin terms that are typically translated as “mercy” (or “compassion” or “kindness”) in English are translated in various ways. Bratcher / Nida classify them in (1) those based on the quality of heart, or other psychological center, (2) those which introduce the concept of weeping or extreme sorrow, (3) those which involve willingness to look upon and recognize the condition of others, or (4) those which involve a variety of intense feelings.
While the Englishmercy originates from the Latinmerces, originally “price paid,” Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, Corsican, Catalan, Friulian) and other Germanic languages (German, Swedish, Danish — Barmherzigkeit, barmhärtighet and barmhjertighed, respectively) tend to follow the Latin misericordia, lit. “misery-heart.”
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 7:15:
Kupsabiny: “I will not turn my back on them like I turned by back on Saul and I chased (him) so that you replaced (him).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “I will be his father and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with rod and have him whipped by people. But I will never take back from him my ever-existing faithful love, like I took back from Saul who reigned before you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “But my love will- still -remain with him, not like what I did to Saul whom you succeeded as king.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “But I will not stop faithfully loving him as I stopped loving Saul, whom I removed from being king before you became king.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
But: this translates the common Hebrew conjunction, which is often translated “and,” but the context seems to require a word showing contrast.
Steadfast love: the Hebrew word so translated is rendered “kindness” by Revised Standard Version in 1 Sam 15.6 and “loyal love” in 1 Sam 20.14 (see the discussion under those verses). See also 2 Sam 2.5, where the same term is translated “loyalty.” Knox says “I will not cancel my merciful promise,” highlighting the idea of fidelity to a specific agreement.
As I took it from Saul: it should be made clear in translation that the pronoun it in this case refers to the steadfast love just mentioned. Contemporary English Version focuses on the idea of loyalty to an agreement and renders the overall meaning as “I will never put an end to my agreement with him, as I put an end to my agreement with Saul.” This is an allusion to the events narrated in 1 Sam 13.13-14.
Whom I put away from before you: the basic idea of the verb put away is “to get rid of,” as Eli told Hannah to get rid of her wine (1 Sam 1.14), and as Saul got rid of mediums and wizards (1 Sam 7.4). God got rid of Saul as king in order to be able to install David in his place. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh speaks of “Saul, whom I removed to make room for you.” New Century Version makes this a separate sentence at the end of the verse, saying “I removed Saul when I turned to you.” Good News Translation makes it clear that the position involved was that of king.
A possible model for the verse as a whole is:
• However, I will not withdraw my faithful love from him even though I did withdraw that love from Saul, who was king before you but who had to be removed.
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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