Exod 19:5 – TIPs

covenant

The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin that are translated as “covenant” in English are translated in a variety of ways. Here are some (back-) translations:

Mossi: “helping promise”
Vai: “a thing-time-bind” (i.e. “an arrangement agreed upon for a period of time”)
Loma (Liberia): “agreement”
Northwestern Dinka: “agreement which is tied up” (i.e. “secure and binding”)
Chol: “a word which is left”
Huastec: “a broken-off word” (“based on the concept of ‘breaking off a word’ and leaving it with the person with whom an agreement has been reached”)
Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “a death command” (i.e. “a special term for testament”)
Piro: “a promised word”
Eastern Krahn: “a word between”
Yaka: “promise that brings together” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Nabak: alakŋaŋ or “tying the knot” (source: Fabian 2013, p. 156)
Nyamwezi: ilagano: “agreement, contract, covenant, promise” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Q’anjob’al: “put mouths equal” (representing agreement) (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
Manikion, Indonesian: “God’s promise” (source: Daud Soesilo)
Natügu: nzesz’tikr drtwr: “oneness of mind” (source: Brenda Boerger in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 164)
Tagalog: tipan: mutual promising on the part of two persons agreeing to do something (also has a romantic touch and denotes something secretive) (source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
Tagbanwa: “initiated-agreement” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Guhu-Samane: “The concept [in Mark 14:24 and Matthew 16:28] is not easy, but the ritual freeing of a fruit and nut preserve does afford some reference. Thus, ‘As they were drinking he said to them, ‘On behalf of many this poro provision [poro is the traditional religion] of my blood is released.’ (…) God is here seen as the great benefactor and man the grateful recipient.” (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )

Law (2013, p. 95) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew berith was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):

“Right from the start we witness the influence of the Septuagint on the earliest expressions of the Christian faith. In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of his blood being a kaine diatheke, a ‘new covenant.’ The covenant is elucidated in Hebrews 8:8-12 and other texts, but it was preserved in the words of Jesus with this language in Luke 22:20 when at the Last Supper Jesus said, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Jesus’s blood was to provide the grounds for the ‘new covenant,’ in contrast to the old one his disciples knew from the Jewish scriptures (e.g., Jeremiah 31:31-34). Thus, the earliest Christians accepted the Jewish Scriptures as prophecies about Jesus and in time began to call the collection the ‘Old Testament’ and the writings about Jesus and early Christianity the ‘New Testament,’ since ‘testament’ was another word for ‘covenant.’ The covenant promises of God (berith in Hebrew) were translated in the Septuagint with the word diatheke. In classical Greek diatheke had meant ‘last will, testament,’ but in the Septuagint it is the chosen equivalent for God’s covenant with his people. The author of Hebrews plays on the double meaning, and when Luke records Jesus’ announcement at the Last Supper that his blood was instituting a ‘new covenant,’ or a ‘new testament,’ he is using the language in an explicit contrast with the old covenant, found in the Jewish scriptures. Soon, the writings that would eventually be chosen to make up the texts about the life and teachings of Jesus and the earliest expression of the Christian faith would be called the New Testament. This very distinction between the Old and New Testaments is based on the Septuagint’s language.”

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Covenant in the Hebrew Bible .

obedience / obey

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Greek that is translated in English typically as “obedience” or “obey” is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “thing hearing.” “For to hear is to obey.” (Source: Marjorie Davis in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 34ff. )

In Huba it is translated as hya nǝu nyacha: “follow (his) mouth.” (Source: David Frank in this blog post )

In Central Mazahua it is translated as “listen-obey” and in Huehuetla Tepehua as “believe-obey” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in Noongar as dwangka-don, lit. “hear do” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).

Translation commentary on Exod 19:5

The word for Now therefore should here be understood as introducing a new thought rather than “At this moment.” If you will obey my voice is literally “if hearing you will hear my voice.” The if indicates that there is an obligation for Israel to fulfill if Yahweh is to fulfill his promise. The word for “hearing” also means to obey. This is a form in Hebrew that simply emphasizes the meaning of the verb, so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “if you will obey me faithfully,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “if you are really prepared to obey me.”

And keep my covenant uses the verb that means to watch, or guard, or observe. And covenant is the word that refers to an agreement between two parties that recognize a relationship binding them together. It includes both promise to honor and commitment to obey the terms agreed upon. (See the comment at 6.4.) The covenant with God, however, placed more emphasis upon God’s faithfulness to his promise and upon the Israelites’ obedience to the terms God had established. In many languages a literal translation of keep my covenant in this verse will simply hide the real meaning of the phrase. What is referred to here is the agreement between Yahweh and his people that is sealed in 24.3-11. They agree to obey all his commandments, and Yahweh on his part promises to look after them as his own people. So one may say “obey all my commandments” or “honor everything that you have agreed upon with me.”

You shall be my own possession is literally “and you will be to me personal property.” Good News Translation simply has “You will be my own people.” However, other translations have “my special possession” (Revised English Bible, New American Bible), “my treasured possession” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New International Version), and “my own prized possession” (Moffatt). All of these are possible renderings. Among all peoples, literally “from all the peoples,” has been expanded by New American Bible: “dearer to me than all other people.” This is implied from the word for my own possession. Translator’s Old Testament has “more precious to me than all other nations.” An alternative model, then, is the following: “you will be my own people, more precious to me than all other people.”

For all the earth is mine begins a new clause (note the semicolon in Revised Standard Version), but it is better to begin a new sentence. The problem is the English word for, which suggests that “you will be mine because all the earth is mine.” This weakens the idea of the Israelites having a special position. Translator’s Old Testament tries to catch this meaning with the word “though”: “though the whole earth belongs to me,” meaning “even though all the earth is mine.” New Revised Standard Version brings out the intended meaning more clearly by leading into the next verse: “Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be….” Good News Translation does the same thing: “The whole earth is mine, but you will be….” The idea is this: “Even though the whole earth belongs to me, you will be a special possession.”

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 .

first person pronoun referring to God

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 show different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help.

In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

formal second person plural pronoun

One way Japanese show 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. )

American Bible Society