neighbor

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” in English is rendered into Babatana as “different man,” i.e. someone who is not one of your relatives. (Source: David Clark)

In North Alaskan Inupiatun, it is rendered as “a person outside of your building,” in Tzeltal as “your back and side” (implying position of the dwellings), in Indonesian and in Tae’ as “your fellow-man,” in Toraja-Sa’dan it is “your fellow earth-dweller,” in Shona (translation of 1966) as “another person like you,” in Kekchí “younger-brother-older-brother” (a compound which means all one’s neighbors in a community) (sources: Bratcher / Nida and Reiling / Swellengrebel), in Mairasi “your people” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Mezquital Otomi as “fellow being,” in Tzeltal as “companion,” in Isthmus Zapotec as “another,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “all people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in most modern German translations as Mitmensch or “fellow human being” (lit. “with + human being”).

In Matt 19:19, Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Luke 10:29 it is translated into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that refers to a person who is socially/physically near. Ixcatlán Mazatec also has a another term for “neighbor” that means “fellow humans-outsiders” which was not chosen for these passages. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Noongar it is translated as moorta-boordak or “people nearby” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

complete verse (Deuteronomy 19:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 19:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “This word/matter is about a person who has killed another person but without intending it, or a person who has killed another but did not have a plan ahead of time to do so. It is a person like that who is to flee to those cities.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “This is a law involving a case in which a person who kills his neighbor accidentally without having had enmity, will be able to escape to and stay there to be protected.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If a man killed his fellowman which was not his intention and without grudge, he can-flee to one of these towns of refuge and no one will-harm him.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘his is the rule about someone who has killed another person. If someone accidentally/without planning to kills another person who was not his enemy, he may escape to one of those cities and be safe/protected there.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 19:4

The provision: the same noun is used at the beginning of 15.2. It indicates what is to be done. So we may translate “This is what you must do [or, This is the rule] in the case of someone who….”

The manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life: this is rather complex. New International Version has “This is the rule concerning the man who kills another and flees there to save his life,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “Here is an example of how someone may save his life by fleeing to them.” Another possibility is “This is the rule about a person who kills another person and flees to one of these towns in order to save his [or her] life.” What follows deals with the case of the person who is legally allowed to flee to one of these towns and thus avoid being killed.

If any one kills his neighbor unintentionally: here neighbor means simply “another person” (New Revised Standard Version), or, more precisely, a fellow-Israelite; it does not indicate someone who lives next door. The Hebrew verb is literally “to strike” or “to hit,” here meaning to kill.

Unintentionally: that is, accidentally, without meaning to.

Without having been at enmity with him in the past: this is stated in order to further remove the possibility of murder.

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 .