complete verse (Deuteronomy 12:23)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 12:23:

  • Kupsabiny: “But make sure that no person eats blood because that is life. So, please, do not eat that blood together with the meat.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “But never eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you are not to eat the life with the meat.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But/Only/Just be sure you (plur.) do- not -eat the blood, for the life is in the blood. You (plur.) do- not -eat the life with the meat.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But be sure that you do not eat the blood of any animal, because it is the blood that sustains life in living beings, and so you must not eat the life along with the meat.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 12:23

The prohibition to eat blood (verse 16) is here justified by the statement the blood is the life. This may have to be expressed as “it is the blood that gives life to a living being.”

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 .