complete verse (Deuteronomy 33:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 33:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “Let them get crops that mature in the sun
    and those that get ripe every month.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “May He give them the good things given by the sun,
    and the best things of all given by the moon.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “May-it-be that from the help of the sun their plants will-bear-fruit with good fruits in season of bearing- fruit.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “by giving them good fruit ripened by the sun
    and good crops at harvest time.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 33:14

This verse continues without a break from verse 13; it is the object of Blessed … be. Expressed in the active voice the connection is “May the LORD be kind to you [bless] and cause….”

Choicest fruits … rich yield: these are two similar expressions for good crops.

Of the sun: that is, the sun as the agent in the growing of good crops. New Jerusalem Bible has “the best of what the sun makes grow,” and New International Version “the best the sun brings forth.” In some languages this may not be a familiar concept, and certain adaptations will have to be made. One possibility is “… will ripen in the sunshine” (Contemporary English Version; similarly Good News Translation).

The rich yield of the months: the Hebrew word for “month” is “moon” (as it is in many other languages); so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “the bounteous crop of the moons,” and New International Version “the finest the moon can yield.” This makes for better parallelism with the previous line; but the idea that the moon helps crops to grow may appear very odd in some cultures. It seems better to translate as months, referring to the crops as they mature during different seasons of the year (see Good News Translation). However, we may retain the idea of months with “Month by month, your fruit will ripen…” (Contemporary English Version).

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 .