concubine

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “concubine” in English is translated in Kutu as “slave made to be his woman” or “female slave he married.”

Similarly, in Kwere it is translated as “slaves who were like wives.” The translation team explained: “We discussed how concubines are different from prostitutes (there is a word for that) in that they have a similar status to wives (they live with the man often and are provided for physically) and so we decided not to use the word for prostitute which is a loose woman or someone engaging in sexual immorality. But since concubines were an accepted part of the society and culture, this would give wrong meaning.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 11:3

He had seven hundred wives, princesses: The word princesses is in apposition to the word wives. The English word “princess” refers to the daughter of a king. The Good News Translation rendering “Solomon married seven hundred princesses” is perhaps misleading since it may suggest that Solomon married seven hundred women whose fathers were kings. But the Hebrew noun rendered princesses generally refers to a queen. The word princesses is in the text to distinguish these wives from the wives who were concubines. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh accurately renders wives, princesses as “royal wives”

Concubines were servant women who, although not wives, had sexual relations with their masters. They had important legal rights, and their masters were referred to as their husbands. The rendering of Contemporary English Version (“other women”) is a rather weak translation of the meaning of this difficult term. New Century Version “slave women” is somewhat better. They are referred to in Bible en français courant as “wives of second rank.” In some other languages they have been called “servant-wives.”

His wives turned away his heart: These words refer back to the words of verse 2. It is implied in Revised Standard Version and in Hebrew that Solomon’s heart was turned away from God. In many languages this should be made explicit. Compare “they led his heart away from the LORD” (New Living Translation).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .