The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “barren” in English is translated with two different terms in Sranan Tongo: “unable to get a child” (used in Luke 1:7) and “closed womb/belly” (because of old age) (used in Luke 1:36). (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
For the translation into Upper Guinea Crioulo, it was not possible to translate with a purely descriptive term. David Frank (in this blog post ) explains:
“The [translation] team is doing a great job, but there were some challenges. Luke 1:7 is supposed to say that Elizabeth was barren, but they said that while their word for barren might be used for animals, it would not be polite to use for people. They translated it as Deus ka da Isabel bambaran, which means ‘God hadn’t given Elizabeth a bambaran,’ which refers to the cloth a woman uses to carry an infant on her back.”
In Southern Zazaki it is translated as “blind chimney.” (Source: Werner 2012, p. 128)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 23:26:
Kupsabiny: “There will be no woman who will abort or be barren. I will let you (plur.) live to old age.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “and no woman will-have-a-miscarriage or be-barren/infertile in your (plur.) land, and I will-give you (plur.) long lives.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “And your (pl.) pregnant women will bear their children well, and so certainly none of them will die in his/her mother’s belly. And no woman will be a barren woman either. And so you certainly won’t die quickly. You will be living a long time on the earth.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “It will lack one (fem.) who be barren, or child who will die in belly. And years your will be sufficient.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “No women in your land will have miscarriages/babies that will die after being born prematurely, and no women will be unable to become pregnant. And I will enable you to live a long time.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 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.
None will cast her young is literally “and a miscarrier shall not be.” Revised Standard Version retains an archaic English expression that New Revised Standard Version has now replaced with “No one shall miscarry.” The root meaning of the verb is to be deprived of children. The feminine participle is used, so we may assume this means “No woman will have a miscarriage” (Good News Translation). No distinction is made between human and animal, and perhaps both were intended. But “No animal shall drop her young” (Moffatt) seems to exclude women. However, it seems that “woman” is the focus here, since the next sentence is definitely referring to humans. Or be barren means to be “without children” (Good News Translation), or “sterile” (New Jerusalem Bible). In your land uses the singular your.
I will fulfill the number of your days is literal, meaning “I will give you a full life span” (New International Version), or “I will give you long lives” (Good News Translation). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “I will let you enjoy the full count of your days.” One may also say “I will cause you [plural] to live long lives.” The pronoun your is singular.
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 .
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