“tell as serious truth” (Central Pame (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Bauzi “swear” can be translated in various ways. In Hebrews 6:13, for instance, it is translated with “bones break apart and decisively speak.” (“No bones are literally broken but by saying ‘break bones’ it is like people swear by someone else in this case it is in relation to a rotting corpse’ bones falling apart. If you ‘break bones’ so to speak when you make an utterance, it is a true utterance.”) In other passages, such as in Matthew 26:72, it’s translated with an expression that implies taking ashes (“if a person wants everyone to know that he is telling the truth about a matter, he reaches down into the fireplace, scoops up some ashes and throws them while saying ‘I was not the one who did that.'”). So in Matthew 26:72 the Bauzi text is: “. . . Peter took ashes and defended himself saying, ‘I don’t know that Nazareth person.'” (Source: David Briley)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 1:35:
Kupsabiny: “‘There is not even one of you from this sinful age-set who will be alive to see that land which is beautiful which I swore to your grandfathers that I would give to you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Not one person of this evil generation will get to see the good land that I promised with an oath to give to your ancestors. [lit.: that I promised saying that I would give it to your ancestors]” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘Not even one (person) of this wicked generation will-be-able-to-see the good land which I swore to give to their ancestors/[lit. old-ones],” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, will enter the land. He has obeyed me completely. So I will give to him and to his descendants some of the land that he explored. He is the only one of all you people who will enter that land. None of these evil people will ever see that good land which I solemnly promised to give to your ancestors.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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).
Not one of these men of this evil generation: instead of the exclusive “men,” something like “Not one person” or “No one” will be better. The meaning is that none of the Israelites who were adults when they left Egypt would live to enter the land of Canaan. They are all characterized as “evil,” which here reflects mainly their lack of faith in God’s promise and in Moses’ leadership. In some languages it will be more natural style to begin with a statement; for example, “You people of this time [or, today] have evil hearts, so I will not let one of you….”
The good land which I swore to give to your fathers: see verse 8. For good land see verse 25.
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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