complete verse (Deuteronomy 22:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 22:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “Be doing like that also if you see a donkey or a piece of clothing or anything that your neighbor has lost and you find it. Do not refuse to help your neighbor.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Also do like that if your Israelite neighbor’s donkey or clothing or any other lost item is found.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “This is also what you (plur.) are going to do with the donkey or with the cloth or any thing that your (plur.) fellowman has-lost. You (plur.) do- not -ignore it.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You must do the same thing if you see a donkey, or a piece of clothing, or anything else that someone has lost. Do not refuse to do what you should do.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 22:3

And so you shall do: this verse expands the instructions to apply to a fellow Israelite’s ass, garment, or anything else he may have lost (any lost thing of your brother’s). For ass or “donkey” see 5.14.

You may not withhold your help: using the same verb used in verse 1. Good News Translation expresses this clause at the beginning of the verse, with “Do the same thing,” referring back to help in verse 1. Contemporary English Version has “Do whatever you can to help.”

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 .