Esau

The name that is transliterated as “Esau” in English means “covered with hair,” “hairy.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Finnish Sign Language and American Sign Language it is translated with the signs signifying “hairy forearm” (referring to the story starting at Genesis 27:11). (Source: Tarja Sandholm, Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Esau” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also hairy (like Esau).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Esau .

complete verse (Deuteronomy 2:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 2:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “Tell the people that you (plur.) are close to passing through Seir where your relatives who are grandchildren of Esau live. Those people will be scared of you, but” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “So you are to give orders to the people, speaking like this, ‘You are about to go by way of the land of your elder and younger brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. Seeing you they will be afraid. So be very careful.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Tell the people: ‘You (plur.) will-pass-through the territory of your (plur.) kinsmen/blood-relatives who were the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will-be-afraid of you (plur.), so [you (plur.)] be-careful.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “And tell the people that they are about to travel near the land that belongs to the descendants of Esau, who are also descendants of Isaac. They live in the hilly Edom region. They will be afraid of you,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 2:4

And command the people may be also expressed as “He told me to give you the following instructions:…” (Good News Translation), or “And give the people these orders:…” (Contemporary English Version).

You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren the sons of Esau: the Israelites, proceeding north, would go through Edom, where the descendants of Esau lived. These sons of Esau were a kindred race; in English “kindred” (New Revised Standard Version) or “distant relatives” (Good News Translation) is the best way to express the meaning. Seir is Edom (1.2). An alternative translation model for this sentence may be “You will very soon walk [or, travel] through the hill country of Edom. It is the land that belongs to your distant relatives, the descendants of Esau.” For “descendants” see 1.8.

They will be afraid of you: the relation between this statement and what follows is not clear. If the Edomites were afraid of the Israelites, why should the Israelites be careful not to fight them? Revised English Bible provides a good answer by translating “Although they are afraid of you, be very careful not to quarrel with them…” (also New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). And the adversative “but” used in Good News Translation, “… but you must not start a war with” (also Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje), is another way to handle the matter. Either one makes for a good translation.

So take good heed: this means to be careful, to not act rashly, and goes with what follows: “so be careful not to attack them.” New Revised Standard Version has “be very careful not to engage in battle with them.”

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 .