The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “encourage” or “comfort” is translated in Enlhet as “become calm of the innermost.” “Innermost” or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind (for other examples see here). (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
In Bacama it is translated as “(to) cool stomach” (source: David Frank in this blog post ), in Yatzachi Zapotec as “cause hearts to mature,” in Isthmus Zapotec “hearts may lie quiet” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.) and in Thai “give heart power to” (source: Bratcher / Hatton 2000).
The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Joshua” is translated in Swiss-German Sign Language with a sign that depicts a trumpet of rams’ horn, referring to Joshua 6:4 and following.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 1:38:
Kupsabiny: “It is your assistant Joshua son of Nun who shall enter (it). So, strengthen him since he is the one who shall lead the people of Israel to go and take that land to be theirs.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “but the one who helps you, Joshua, son of Nun, will go in there. You are to give him encouragement; he will lead Israel as they take possession of it.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “But your helper Josue the child/(son) of Nun will-be-able-to-enter there. Cause- him -to-be-bold/brave, for he will-be-the-one-to-lead/[lit. -head] the Israelinhon to-possess the land.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Joshua, the son of Nun, who is your helper, will enter it. Encourage him, because he is the one who will enable you Israeli people to occupy that land.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Here is God’s statement that Joshua, not Moses, will lead the people into the land of Canaan.
Who stands before you: this is a way of referring to Joshua as Moses’ assistant, or helper. He is not Moses’ equal but is inferior to him. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “who attends you” and Revised English Bible “who is in attendance on you” are somewhat old-fashioned. New Revised Standard Version and Contemporary English Version “your assistant” is better.
Encourage him: the verb means “to strengthen.” Languages have various idioms for expressing the idea of instilling determination and courage in someone; for example, “give heart power to” (Thai), or “cause his heart [or, liver] to become strong.”
He shall cause Israel to inherit it: a clearer way of expressing what this means is “He will lead the Israelites to conquer [or, possess] the land [of Canaan].” In such a context as this the verb “to inherit” is not an accurate translation of the Hebrew verb. In English, at least, “inherit” means to come into the possession of something following the death of its owner.
It is possible to change the order of the clauses in this verse as follows:
• Instead, I will let Joshua, the son of Nun, who is your assistant, lead the Israelites to conquer [or, occupy] the land. So you must encourage him.
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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