18“You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and fix them as an emblem on your forehead.
The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “soul” in English is translated in Chol with a term that refers to the invisible aspects of human beings (source: Robert Bascom), in Yagaria with oune or “shadow, reflection” (source: Renck, p. 81), and in Elhomwe as “heart” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).
The Mandarin Chineselínghún (靈魂 / 灵魂), literally “spirit-soul,” is often used for “soul” (along with xīn [心] or “heart”). This is a term that was adopted from Buddhist sources into early Catholic writings and later also by Protestant translators. (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 32, see also Clara Ho-yan Chan in this article )
In Chichewa, moyo means both “soul” and “life.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 11:18:
Kupsabiny: “Stick these words in the head and fix them in your stomachs. Tie (them) to your hands/arms and the foreheads so that (they) can remind you of those laws.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “So keep my word in your hearts and minds and bind [them] as a sign on your hands and foreheads.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Therefore truly plant these words of mine in your (plur.) heart and mind. You (plur.) tie them in your (plur.) shoulders or place in your (plur.) foreheads as a reminder for you (plur.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
German: “Place my orations [Reden] on your heart and on your soul, knot them as a sign onto your hand, they shall be a bundle [Gebind] between your eyes.” (Source: Buber / Rosenzweig 1976)
English: “So, keep thinking about these commands. Write them on tiny scrolls and fasten them to your arms/wrists, and write them on bands that you fasten to your foreheads to help you to remember them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 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).
The first part of verse 18 is similar to 6.6; the second part is exactly the same as 6.8.
Lay up … in your heart and in your soul: this includes both the mind and the feelings; so Good News Translation says “Remember these commands and cherish them.” Contemporary English Version has “Memorize these laws and think about them.”
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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