gentiles / nations

Click here to view graphically

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).

Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).

In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also nations.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Deut 12:30)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai translation uses the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

complete verse (Deuteronomy 12:30)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 12:30:

  • Kupsabiny: “be on guard, do not be led astray so that you follow the words of those communities that God will destroy. Do not disturb yourselves that you know something about their gods/idols, saying, ‘How do these communities worship their idols? We, too, want to do like that!’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Be careful! Otherwise, after they have been destroyed, you also, like them, will be entangled in a trap. Do not enquire about their gods, thinking, "Like they do puja to their gods, we will also do it."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When you (plur.) have-destroyed them already, you (plur.) be-careful that you (plur.) will- not -be-ensnared/trapped by following them. You (plur.) must not inquire regarding their gods. You (plur.) must not say, ‘How do- they -serve their gods? Let- us (excl.) also -follow what they are-doing.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “After he does that, be sure that you do not worship the gods that they have been worshiping, because if you do that, you will be caught in the same trap that they were caught in. Do not ask anyone about those gods, saying, ‘Tell me how they worshiped their gods, in order that I can worship them also.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 12:29 - 30

Verses 29-30 are one long sentence, with verse 29 as a dependent time clause, modifying the main verb of the sentence take heed (verse 30). It will be necessary in many languages to restructure, as Today’s English Version has done, and make verse 29 a statement of fact, followed by the command in verse 30. With the beginning of a new section, it will be good to preface it with something like “Moses said to the people of Israel.”

Cuts off before you the nations: cuts off is another verb in the rich vocabulary of destruction and extermination (see also 19.1). The phrase before you means “as you advance” (Revised English Bible), “as you invade their land” (Today’s English Version).

Whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them: this is a wordy literal equivalent of the Hebrew text, which can be expressed in a more natural and economical way. We may say something like the following: “As you invade the land of Canaan, the LORD your God will destroy the nations that are there. You will take their place and live in the land.” For the verb dispossess see 12.2.

In verse 30 the warning begins take heed …, that is, “be careful,” or “take care.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “beware,” Today’s English Version “make sure,” Contemporary English Version “be especially careful.”

Ensnared: this verb, in this form, is found only here; it means “to be entangled” (as in a trap), “to be caught” (see the active “to trap” in 1 Sam 28.9). Here it is used figuratively, “lure,” “seduce,” “lead astray.” The passive form of the verb may have to be transformed into the active, “be careful that no one will lure [or, entice] you….”

To follow them, after they have been destroyed before you: even though the Canaanites will be defeated, there will be survivors who will try to get the Israelites to worship their gods. Today’s English Version “for that would be fatal” is a way of completing the idea of the verb “be ensnared,” which means here that they will actually be trapped, not merely be lured or seduced.

And that you do not inquire about their gods: Today’s English Version offers a good translation: “Don’t try to find out how they worship their gods.” Or we may say “Don’t show an interest in their religion.”

‘How did…?’ In Revised Standard Version the question within single quotes is unnecessarily complicated, and a translation need not preserve the direct order, with the quoted question and the explanatory statement. It is possible to render it as an indirect quotation: “… don’t try to learn about their gods by asking how those people worship them; if you do, you may do the same thing.” However, the direct quotation will be more natural style in a number of languages. Contemporary English Version offers a good model: “You must be especially careful not to ask ‘How did these nations worship their gods? Shouldn’t we worship the LORD in the same way?’ ”

To serve gods means to worship them, obey their commandments (see 6.13).

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 .