complete verse (1 Samuel 12:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 12:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “When your grandfathers were in Egypt, they were hated by the people of that nation. Then they pleaded/cried to God. God sent Moses and Aron to go and bring them from there and he gave them this place where we live today.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “After Jacob went to Egypt, Later Egyptians oppressed to his descendants. Then they called to the LORD for help. Like that, sending Moses and Aaron to the land of Egypt, He then brought your ancestors out. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘When the descendants of Jacob (were) there in Egipto, they asked-for help from the LORD, and the LORD sent Moises and Aaron who were the-(ones-who) brought- them -out of Egipto and brought them to this land.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘any years after Jacob went to Egypt, our ancestors pleaded to Yahweh to help them. So Yahweh sent Moses and Aaron to them, and they led our ancestors out of Egypt, and eventually they settled in this land.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 12:8

Jacob: the Masoretic Text says Jacob, while the Septuagint says “Jacob and his sons.” It is not clear whether Good News Translation is following the Septuagint here, as Revised English Bible and New American Bible do, or whether for translation purposes the sense of the name Jacob has here been rendered “Jacob and his family.” Though Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament recommends that the Masoretic Text be accepted here, it may be best for translation purposes to follow the example of the Septuagint. A literal translation such as Revised Standard Version and New International Version (“After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help”) may incorrectly suggest to some readers that “Jacob” and the third person plural pronoun “they” refer to different persons.

And the Egyptians oppressed them: these words are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation on the basis of the Septuagint. The Hebrew text, followed in New International Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and Fox, is given a {B} rating by Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament. But for translation purposes it may be best to make explicit what all of the original readers knew very well, namely that the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites, following the models of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. See also Revised English Bible: “After Jacob and his sons had gone down to Egypt and suffered at the hands of the Egyptians.”

Made them dwell: the verb in Hebrew is plural, and Moses and Aaron are the subject. The Septuagint, however, has a verb in third person singular, with God as the subject. New American Bible is based on the text of the Septuagint: “and he gave them this place to live in.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament does not discuss this textual problem. The Masoretic Text, with the plural subject, is rightly followed here by most versions.

Your fathers: the “ancestors.”

In this place: that is, in the Promised Land. If the word place has a very restricted meaning in the receptor language, then it will be better to translate “in this land” (Contemporary English Version and Good News Translation). Some may prefer to say more specifically “in the land where we are” (La Bible du Semeur).

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 .