Undertranslated Bible "son(s) of" phrases


I have enjoyed studying Selwyn Russell's The Translator's Dilemma webpage. Mr. Russell points out the wide range of meaning of the Hebrew word "ben," which is glossed literally as "son" or "sons" in English. Most of the following examples of undertranslation are found on Mr. Russell's webpage. I list the undertranslations cited by Mr. Russell plus others on this webpage, along with more appropriate meaning-based translations to English. See a description of undertranslation and other examples of often undertranslated phrases in the Bible on my Undertranslation webpage. The examples in the following list from the New Testament reflect the Greek words hUIOS "son" and hUIOI "sons" which are literal translation borrowings to NT Greek from Hebrew "ben."


sons of God (Gen. 6:2) (original meaning debated; = godly men/angels/supernatural beings)
son of one year (Ex. 12:5) = one-year old male
son of beating (Deut. 25:2) = deserving of beating
sons of Belial/worthlessness (1 Sam. 2:12) = wicked scoundrels
sons of the east (1 Kings 4:30) = the wisest people from the east
sons of the prophets (1 Kings 20:35) = disciples of the prophets
sons of the band (2 Chron. 25:13) = soldiers
sons of the singers (Neh. 12:28) = groups of singers
sons of the burning coal (Job 5:7) = sparks
son of the bow (Job 41:28) = arrow
sons of men (Ps. 4:2) = people
sons of the mighty (Ps. 29:1) = heroes
son of wickedness (Ps. 89:22) = wicked person
son of the morning (Is. 14:12) = morning star
son of the floor (Is. 21:10) = threshed grain
sons of the stranger (Is. 56:6) = Gentiles
sons of the sorceress (Is. 57:3) = magicians/sorcerers
sons of his quiver (Lam. 3:13) = arrows
sons of Zion (Lam. 4:2) = people of Jerusalem
son of man (Ezek. 6:2) = the one who is human
sons of oil (Zech. 4:12) = olive tree branches
sons of the kingdom (Matt. 8:12) = heirs of the kingdom/citizens of the kingdom/Israelites
Son of Man (Matt. 8:20) = the one who is human
sons of the evil one (Matt. 13:38) = those who belong to the evil one (Satan)
son of hell (Matt. 23:15) = someone deserving of hell (Gehenna)
sons of the bridechamber (Mark 2:19) = wedding guests
sons of thunder (Mark 3:17) = thunderbolts/hotheads/violent men
son of peace (Luke 10:6) = a man who is peace-loving (or will have peace)
son of Abraham (Luke 19:9) = descendant of Abraham
sons of this age (Luke 20:34) = people (of this time)
sons of the resurrection (Luke 20:36) = people who have come back to life
son of destruction (John 17:12) = man destined for destruction
sons of light (1 Thess. 5:5) = people who belong to the light/those who are characterized by light
sons of the day (1 Thess. 5:5) = people who belong to the day/those who are characterized by daylight/(perhaps, those whose actions are righteous and out in the open)
Comments, corrections, and additions to this list are welcome. Email wlemanNOSPAM@netzero.net (delete NOSPAM before emailing).

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Latest page update: May 30, 2002