complete verse (Deuteronomy 28:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 28:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “You shall be cursed in various cities and cursed in the farms.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Curses will fall upon you in the city and curses will fall upon your field work.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The LORD will-curse your (plur.) towns and fields.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “He will curse you when you are in the cities
    and he will curse you when you are working in the fields.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 28:16 - 28:17

These verses are the opposites of verses 3 and 5. Here cursed means “will fail,” and the two verses may be alternatively translated as:

• Yahweh will cause your businesses and farms to fail. You won’t have enough grain and there will not be enough food to eat.

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 .