complete verse (Exodus 12:40)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 12:40:

  • Kupsabiny: “The Israelites had stayed/lived in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The Israelites had been living in Egypt about 430 years.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The length-(of-time) the Israelinhon lived in Egipto was about 430 years.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “The Israel people were living in Isip for a duration of four hundred thirty (430) years.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “Therefore, years which people of Israel lived in Egypt, be years which be 430.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “The Israeli people had lived in Egypt 430 years.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.