complete verse (Exodus 1:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 1:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “Although the Egyptians tortured the Israelites, the Israelites continued to prosper much spreading in that land. Those things made the Egyptians to fear the Israelites very much.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “However, the more they tortured Israelites the more their number increased. They filled in many places. Therefore seeing Israelites, they feared too much.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But while they were-being-oppressed again-again/[lit. being-oppressed being-oppressed], the more they in-fact kept-increasing, and they even spread-(out) within Egipto. So the Egiptohanon became- even more -afraid of them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “The Isip people were strong in making the Israel people toil, but the Israel people were strong and so were becoming more numerous. Therefore the Isip people were afraid of the Israel people” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “But, when they were adding work of people of Israel, people of Israel were adding births their, and ground their was growing. And [body] fear people of Egypt very about people of Israel.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “But the more cruelly they treated the Israeli people, the bigger the Israeli population grew, and they became more numerous all over the land. So the Egyptian people began to be afraid of the Israeli people.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 1:12

The pronoun they in the first sentence may need to be identified as the Israelites to make it clear that “the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites” (Good News Translation), and the Israelites “increased in number” (Good News Translation). To spread abroad means that there were so many of them that they were seen throughout the land of Egypt. The more … the more … the more … means that when the Egyptians increased the oppression, the Israelites became even more numerous and were seen even more frequently throughout Egypt. Oppressed may also be expressed as “treated violently,” “were cruel toward,” or “hurt.” In a number of languages this will be described in a way similar to “the Egyptians held their necks down.” In some languages it is difficult to express the comparative “the more this, then the more that.” In such cases it is possible to say, for example, “But just as the Egyptians were making it difficult for them, just so they became many and spread out” (Ilokano), or even “The Egyptians treated the Israelites very cruelly. But the families of the Israelites still continued to grow in number and spread out to places in Egypt where they had not been before.”

The verb translated as were in dread of is not a common Hebrew word, so its meaning must be determined by the context in which it is used. Good News Translation has “the Egyptians came to fear the Israelites.” In Num 22.3 it also means to fear or dread, and in Isa 7.6 it means to terrify. But in Lev 20.23 and Num 21.5 it means to hate or loathe. Most translations choose either one meaning or the other, either to fear or to hate. However, both meanings seem to be intended here, in the sense that the Egyptians had strong racial feelings against them as an ethnic group. In context, then, the Egyptians “came to fear” (Good News Translation) and “to loathe” (New English Bible) the Israelites because they continued to increase in number. Using both of these meanings one may render the second part of this verse as “The Egyptians began to hate and fear the Israelites.” This hatred by the Egyptians was the result of the Israelites’ rapid increase in population. In some languages it will be helpful to begin this final sentence with the equivalent of “So” or “Therefore” and say “So the Egyptians began to hate….”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .