serve (Igede)

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “serve,” “minister,” “walk with,” or “service” is translated in Igede as myị ẹrụ or “agree with message (of the one you’re serving).” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also serve.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (1Sam 17:9)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding the ranks of Israel.

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 17:9

The pronoun we would clearly not include Goliath if he were killed by his opponent. So in some languages it may be more appropriate to say “the rest of us” or “my fellow Philistines [will be your servants].”

Servants: in this context the Hebrew word is more accurately translated “slaves.”

Prevail against: translates the same verb as is able at the beginning of this verse. Good News Translation reflects this correspondence by using the verb “win” in both cases. New American Bible similarly has “if he beats me” and “if I beat him.”

The expressions be our servants and serve us have the same meaning, and it may sound redundant to try to translate the meaning twice. The repetition is probably for the sake of emphasis, but other languages may find other more natural ways to show this emphasis.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .