complete verse (Deuteronomy 10:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 10:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “So, you should be loving (plur.) foreigners since you, too, were foreigners in the land of Egypt.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “You must show love to foreigners, for you, also, were foreigners in the land of Egypt.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore you (plur.) also love the alien/strangers/foreigners, for you (plur.) were alien/strangers/foreigners before in Egipto.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So you must love those foreigners too, because you were once foreigners when you were living in Egypt.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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).

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

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 10:19

For an almost exact parallel to this verse, see Lev 19.34 (see also Exo 22.21; 23.9). Love here refers to showing concern and care for these foreigners. Thus the translation may be “So you should show care and concern for…,” or even “So you should care for….”

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 .