Jordan

The Hebrew, Greek and Ge’ez that is translated as “Jordan” means “descending (rapidly),” “flowing down.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the river bordering Jordan and Israel, along with the general sign for river. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Jordan river” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jordan River .

complete verse (Deuteronomy 4:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 4:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “I shall die in this place. But you shall cross over and go and take for yourselves that beautiful country.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I will have to die in this land. I will not get to go to the other side of the Jordan. You, however, will go to the other side, and will take possession of that good land.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I will-die in this land that can- not -cross-over the Jordan, but you (plur.) on-the-other-hand will-cross-over to take-possession the good land.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “He said that I must die here in this land and never cross the Jordan River. But you will go across it, and you will occupy that land.” (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 4:22

I must die: New Revised Standard Version “I am going to die,” or Good News Translation “I will die,” expresses the Hebrew better.

In this land: that is, Moab, on the east side of the Jordan.

I must not go over the Jordan: “I will not [get to] cross the Jordan River.”

Contemporary English Version has a helpful model for the first two clauses of this verse: “So I must stay here and die on this side of the Jordan….”

You shall go over and take possession: see 1.8.

For that good land see the previous verse.

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 .