justice

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is translated as “justice” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that describes the quality or principle of fairness, righteousness, and impartiality in treating other people. A literal back-translation of the signs are “FOLLOW(God is implied) ACTIONS, DECISIONS JUST-RIGHT”. A more idiomatic back-translation would be: “actions and decisions are right/fitting/just in accordance to God’s will.” The movement in the signs itself helps to indicate that this is a noun, not a verb. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Justice” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

widow

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “widow” in English is translated in West Kewa as ona wasa or “woman shadow.” (Source: Karl J. Franklin in Notes on Translation 70/1978, pp. 13ff.)

The etymological meaning of the Hebrew almanah (אַלְמָנָה) is likely “pain, ache,” the Greek chéra (χήρα) is likely “to leave behind,” “abandon,” and the English widow (as well as related terms in languages such as Dutch, German, Sanskrit, Welsh, or Persian) is “to separate,” “divide” (source: Wiktionary).

See also widows.

Honorary are / rare constructs denoting God (“give”)

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 show different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morphemes rare (られ) or are (され) are affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, atae-rare-ru (与えられる) or “give” is used. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 10:18

Executes justice for the fatherless and widows: this does not only mean that God is impartial in applying the law to orphans and widows, but that God actively takes their side. Another way to express this is “Makes sure that … are treated fairly” (Good News Translation). Orphans and widows were the people with the least power in that society, and they were easily exploited by unscrupulous people. Bible en français courant has “He defends the rights of orphans and widows” (see also Contemporary English Version). The Hebrew word translated as fatherless by Revised Standard Version and “orphan” by many other translations refers to “a child without a father.” In languages that distinguish between “orphan,” a child who has lost both parents, and “fatherless,” a child who has lost only the father, the translator should choose “fatherless.” Otherwise “orphan” may be used.

The sojourner: this means “resident aliens,” foreigners who lived with the Israelites. Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje has “the foreigners who live among us,” and Good News Translation “the foreigners who live with our people.” We may note that this reference makes more sense in a context where the people are already settled in the land of Canaan.

Giving him food and clothing: it is better to use the plural form, “the foreigners who live in our land; he gives them food and clothing.”

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 .