complete verse (Exodus 12:26)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 12:26:

  • Kupsabiny: “And when your children ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean/show?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “If your sons and daughters ask you ‘what is the meaning of this festival’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And if your (plur.) children indeed ask what is the meaning of this ceremony,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “And when your children ask you like this, ‘What does the feast mean?’” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “When children will ask you ‹This [Q?] means be what?›” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean?’,” (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 Exod 12:26

And when your children say to you has the same form as verse 25, literally “And it shall be that your sons will say to you [plural].” Since a question follows, Good News Translation has “When your children ask you.” What do you mean by this service is literally “What is this service to you [plural].” The same word for service is used in verse 25.

Alternative translation models for this verse are:

• Your children will say to you, “What does this festival mean?”

• … “Why are you celebrating like this?”

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 .