orphan

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “orphan” in English is translated in Enlhet as “those who are gone past” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. ) and in Newari as “ones not having mother-father” (source: Newari Back Translation).

E.L. Greenstein (2019, p. 108) notes that, particularly in reference to Job 24:9 where the child is being nursed, that the Hebrew term “has the narrower meaning of “fatherless.”

See also orphaned.

complete verse (Exodus 22:22)

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

  • Kupsabiny: “Don’t cause suffering to a widow or an orphan.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘[You (plur.)] do- not -take-advantage-of the female-widows and the orphans.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “‘You (pl.) can’t/mustn’t do bad to widows and orphans.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “Widow and orphan, not (imp.) them evil do.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “You must not mistreat any widow or any orphan.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 22:22

Literally the text says “Any widow and orphan you [plural] shall not humiliate.” The basic meaning of the verb is to be bent down, or to be pitiful. It therefore has a similar meaning to the verbs in verse 21. Various translations are possible: “abuse” (New Revised Standard Version), “ill-treat” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “take advantage of” (New International Version), and “mistreat” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version).

The widow, of course, was a woman whose husband had died. In the Israelite society she had no right to own property and was often dependent on public charity. The orphan was really a “fatherless child” (Revised English Bible), not necessarily a child who had lost both parents. So the word meant “a child without a father.” In many languages, however, the term for orphan refers to a child who has lost both parents. In such a case it is better to refer in this context to a “fatherless child.”

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 .