complete verse (Deuteronomy 23:1)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 23:1:

  • Kupsabiny: “A man who has been castrated in one way or another is not allowed to enter into a meeting of the people of God.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “A man whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has been cut off is not to be admitted to the LORD’s assembly.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘No man who has-been-castrated or has-been-cut-off (his) genitals/sexual-organ can-join the community of the LORD.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Any man whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall not be included as one of/allowed to worship with Yahweh’s people.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 23:1

With the beginning of a new section, Moses should be reintroduced as the speaker.

Testicles are crushed: this could have happened either by an accident or in battle. Good News Translation “has been castrated” is possible (Septuagint,Vulgate, also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, BÍBLIA para todos Edição Comum); most translations, however, are like Revised Standard Version, and translators should follow this interpretation.

Male member is cut off: New Revised Standard Version reflects modern American usage, “whose penis is cut off” (see also Good News Translation). Contemporary English Version uses the euphemism “private parts”: “If a man’s private parts have been crushed or cut off.” Translators should employ language that will not be offensive to the reader or hearer. Such men could not be priests (Lev 21.20).

Shall not enter the assembly of the LORD: this sounds like going into an assembly hall. But what it means is “shall not belong to the assembly” or “… the LORD’s people” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). The Hebrew word qahal is translated in the Septuagint by ekklesia, which is the Greek word in the New Testament translated “church.”

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 .