And: the content of what follows shows that the conjunction used here should be rendered by something marking contrast, since what follows is somewhat contrary to what the reader may have expected. Good News Translation and New Jerusalem Bible have “however.” Many other versions use the word “but” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New American Bible, New International Version, New Century Version).

Let him dwell apart: while this clearly refers to Absalom, this may not be clear in some languages if a pronoun is used. The name may have to be used. The meaning of apart is further clarified by the words in his own house. What is most important is that, while David had permitted his return to Jerusalem, he did not want to see his son.

The words translated come into my presence and come into the king’s presence are more literally “see my face” and “see the face of the king.” As noted in 3.13, this is a technical expression meaning “to come into the king’s court by invitation of the king.” Nueva Biblia Española says “because I do not want to receive him.” The primary sense here is not that Absalom never saw David at all, though that is probably intended, but rather that David never invited him to appear before him while he sat on his throne. In certain languages it will be more natural to translate this literally rather than following either Revised Standard Version or Good News Translation.

So represents the common Hebrew conjunction, but here indicates that, as a result of David’s command, Absalom did what he had ordered.

The precise fulfillment of the king’s commands is underlined by the repetition of all the elements of his original order. Unless this repetition is especially unnatural in the receptor language, it should be retained.

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 .

The structure of this verse may need to be modified in some languages to make it read more naturally. The parenthetical phrase of Revised Standard Version may be shifted forward and made into a separate sentence. The repetition in the verse may also be reduced. Compare Good News Translation.

He cut the hair of his head: literally “he shaved his head” (so New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Fox). Many translations have “cut” his hair (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), apparently on the assumption that Absalom would have trimmed his hair and not have shaved off all of his hair. Since the Hebrew verb is used in some contexts for trimming the hair, either “shaved” or “cut” is acceptable here. An expression like the Revised Standard Version rendering will be redundant in some languages—especially those which have different words for the hair that grows on the top of the head and that which is found elsewhere on the body.

Two hundred shekels: the weight of a shekel was about 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). The modern equivalent of two hundred of these will therefore be “more than two kilos” (Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or “about five pounds,” as indicated in the American edition of Good News Translation and the New International Version footnote. The term shekels does not refer to coins, since coins with this name were not made until about the seventh century B.C. It will therefore be inappropriate to speak of “coins called shekel” at this point. It will be far better to convert the weight into a meaningful equivalent in the receptor language. The ancient Greek version of this verse says “a hundred shekels” (Anchor Bible), which may be less of an exaggeration, but the evidence is not strong enough for translators to follow it in this case. Both the traditional Hebrew text and the manuscripts from the Dead Sea have the figure “two hundred.”

By the king’s weight: wherever there are weights and measures used by a large group of people, there must be a standard. Gen 23.16 speaks of “four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.” Similarly the expression “shekel of the sanctuary” is common in the Pentateuch (see Exo 30.12; Lev 5.15; 27.3, 25; and Num 7). The expression used here is not found elsewhere in the Old Testament but indicates that the standard for weights and measures at this point in the history of Israel must have been set by the king. The very presence of this phrase seems to indicate that the readers may have been familiar with other standards. Some possible translations include “by the royal standard” (New International Version), “by the official weight of the king” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente), and “using the measures approved by the king.”

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 .

There were born … three sons, and one daughter: in some languages the following restructuring will sound more natural: “Absalom had four children: he had three sons and a daughter. The daughter’s name was Tamar and she was very beautiful.”

According to 18.18 Absalom did not have any sons. Possibly the three sons born to him at this time had died by the time the events described in chapter 18 took place. But there is no information about this in the Bible.

Tamar: this child was obviously named after her aunt, Absalom’s sister, who was raped by her half brother Amnon. She is described as being a beautiful woman, literally “a woman of beautiful appearance,” using the word found in the description of the girl’s aunt in 13.1 and another word that is used in the description of Bathsheba (11.2). The word translated beautiful is also used to describe Absalom in verse 25. But in some languages a different term is required for men and women.

Some manuscripts of the Septuagint have the name “Maacah” here instead of Tamar. The name “Maacah” probably is the result of a scribe’s attempt to make this verse agree with 1 Kgs 15.2, which says that Absalom’s daughter is named “Maacah.” There are different ways in which this seeming contradiction is explained, but here translators should follow the Hebrew text (Tamar), to which Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating.

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 .

So: the common Hebrew conjunction need not necessarily be translated here if a new paragraph is begun at this point.

Two full years: according to 13.23, this is the same period of time that Absalom waited before taking revenge on Amnon for what he had done to his sister, Tamar.

Without coming into the king’s presence: or more literally “and he did not see the face of the king,” as in verse 24. Regarding the technical nature of this idiom, see the comments on 3.13. This phrase may be translated in some languages independently, beginning with a conjunction marking contrast, “but he did not see the king” or “however, he was not allowed to see King David.” The technical aspect of this expression is kept in Nueva Biblia Española, “without being received [in court] by the king.” Some translators may feel it necessary to remind their readers of what the original readers knew very well—that David was Absalom’s father. Contemporary English Version has “without seeing his father.” Compare verse 24.

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 .

Then: the conjunction here introduces the description of what happened after the two-year period mentioned in the previous verse.

Sent for Joab: in some languages it will be necessary to fill out the meaning of this expression more fully. The idea is that Absalom sent someone to ask Joab to come to him so that he could discuss the problem with him and then send him to speak to King David. The text shows that this attempt was made two times, but that Joab would not come. Other languages may say “refused to come to him” or “rejected the request to appear before Absalom.”

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 .

Then: the conjunction here may be seen as making a more logical connection. It was because of Joab’s double refusal to come to him that Absalom took the action described in this verse. So the transition word may be translated “Therefore” (Goldman) or “So” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Contemporary English Version, in fact, introduces this verse with the word “Finally,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “At this….”

The pronoun references may be unclear if translated literally into some languages. Translators should ensure that the readers and hearers of this story will know who is being talked about in each case.

See: this imperative verb has the sense of “seeing” but is also often used more figuratively as “perceive” or “consider.” Here Absalom is telling his servants to consider Joab’s field, which was located next to his. In some languages it is necessary to indicate whether the plural consists of two persons only or more than two. The Hebrew does not specify, but probably more than two are intended.

He has barley there: since the barley was in the field, it was still growing or possibly cut but not yet harvested. Whichever the case may have been, the servants of Absalom were instructed to destroy it with fire in order to get Joab’s attention. But in languages that use different terms for grain that is still growing and grain that has been cut, it will probably be better to use the word for what is still growing in the field. In those cultures where barley does not exist, translators will have to use a more general term for “grain” or borrow the word from the dominant language in the area. If this is done it will be helpful to add an explanation in the glossary and include an illustration in the text. Compare Ruth 1.22.

At the end of this verse, the Septuagint has an addition that is the basis for the following words in New American Bible: “Joab’s farmhands came to him with torn garments and reported to him what had been done.” Compare also the addition in Anchor Bible, “Joab’s servants came to him with their clothes torn and said, ‘The servants of Abishalom have set the property on fire.’ ” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project suggests that these words in the Greek were added to introduce Joab’s reaction in the next verse, and most translations seem to agree with this understanding. But Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament also acknowledges that these words may have been original and were accidentally omitted from the Hebrew, and therefore only gives the Masoretic Text a {D} rating.

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 .

Then: the conjunction here may have both temporal and logical components. What Joab did happened immediately after the events described in the preceding verse and was a direct result of those events.

Arose and went: see the comments on this kind of expression in verse 23 above and in the other references given there. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh here translates the two verbs together as “came at once.”

Said to him: in view of the fact that a question follows, this may be translated “asked him.” Good News Translation‘s “demanded” (also Revised English Bible) implies that Joab was angry.

The direct quotation may be more naturally translated in some languages as indirect speech. The whole verse will then read something like “Then Joab went to Absalom’s house and asked him why his [Absalom’s] servants had set fire to his [Joab’s] field.”

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 .

Behold: this particle focuses attention on the discourse that follows. And in this case it introduces the answer to Joab’s question. See 1.2.

Come here: this begins a quote within the larger quotation of what Absalom said. A further embedded quotation is given later in the discourse of Absalom. Because this verse contains three degrees of quotation, this structure will prove to be very difficult to imitate in other languages. And even if it is possible to imitate it, the resulting translation may be extremely difficult for the average reader to follow. It will be better to translate the sense without direct quotations or by reducing the number of quotations to a minimum. A possible model for this kind of structure will be the following:

• Then Absalom reminded Joab that he had sent word for him [Joab] to come to his [Absalom’s] place because he had wanted to send Joab to King David. He wanted Joab to ask the king why he [the king] had brought him [Absalom] back from Geshur. Absalom thought it would have been better for him [Absalom] to have stayed there. So he asked Joab to let him see the king. He said, “If I have done something wrong, he can kill me.”

In attempting a restructuring of this kind, translators should pay special attention to the pronoun references and the verb tenses, making it clear who is being talked about and when the events occurred. A variety of other structures will also be possible, but this model can at least give some ideas about what may be done in the receptor language.

Let me go into the presence of the king is literally “let me see the face of the king.” See the comments on verse 24.

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 .