complete verse (Deuteronomy 29:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 29:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “But God has not made you until today to take these things to heart/head, or listen (to them) and understand.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Even till today, the LORD has not given you hearts that are able to understand, eyes that are able to see or ears that are able to hear.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But until now the LORD has- not -caused- you (plur.) yet -to-understand what you (plur.) have seen and heard.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But until now, Yahweh has not enabled you to understand the meaning of all that you have seen and heard.” (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. )

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God (“give”)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, atae-rare-ru (与えられる) or “give” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 29:4

Yahweh has kept hidden the meaning of all those miracles, primarily their basic significance, which was that they were the means whereby Yahweh was making the Israelites his own people. This is a theme found elsewhere in the Old Testament, most notably in Isa 6.9-10 (and see its use in Matt 13.14-15; Mark 4.12; Luke 8.10; John 12.40; Acts 28.26-27).

The LORD has not given you: the translation should not make it appear that the Israelites did not have minds, or eyes, or ears. The meaning is that God had not allowed them to understand fully the significance of those events. In some languages translators will be able to retain language similar to the Hebrew; for example, “The LORD didn’t let your hearts [or, minds] understand what your eyes saw and your ears heard.” In other languages the Good News Translation rendering, “he has not let you understand what you have experienced,” expresses the meaning quite clearly, if not with so much emphasis as the Hebrew text has.

To this day: this means “until today” (New Jerusalem Bible). There is no clear hint that things will change and the people will finally understand the meaning of those events.

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 .