grain

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “corn”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).

Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

vineyard

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “vineyard” in English is translated in Noongar as boodjer-djildjiyang, lit. “land for fruit.” (Source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 8:15

The people are already required by the law to give a tenth of their produce to support the temple and priesthood (so Deut 14.22-29; 26.12-14). Now the king also will take a tenth of their produce and a tenth of their flock (verse 17).

He will take the tenth: literally “he will tithe” (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), meaning that the king would seize ten percent of what was produced by the fields of grain and by the vineyards that had not been taken over by the king. In other contexts the verb means “give a tenth,” but here the obvious meaning is “take a tenth.” Compare Gen 28.22; Deut 14.22; 26.12; Neh 10.37-38.

Officers and … servants: the word rendered officers in Revised Standard Version and “court officers” in Good News Translation is the same word translated “eunuchs” by Revised Standard Version in the book of Esther (for example, 1.10, 12, 15). Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and New American Bible say “eunuchs” here in verse 15. Eunuchs were castrated men who were commonly used both domestically and politically in the service of the king. The term “eunuch” is sometimes a taboo word, and it may have a very disrespectful meaning, or the practice may be completely unknown. It may then be necessary either to find an appropriate euphemism or to use a descriptive phrase. The significance of the term in this context is not, however, that these were castrated men, but that they were important trusted officials in the royal court. Regarding servants, see the comments on verse 14.

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 .