The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “brother” in English is translated in Kwere as sekulu, in Elhomwe as mbalaawo´, and in Mandarin Chinese as gēgē (哥哥), all “older brother.”
Note that Kwere also uses lumbu — “older sibling” in some cases. (Source for Kwere and Elhomwe: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)
In Lama it is translated as “older or younger brother.” (Source: Neal Brinneman)
The term that is used for monarchs in ancient Egypt and is transliterated as “Pharaoh” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying the “fake metal beard (postiche)” that was word by Pharaohs during official functions. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 7:2:
Kupsabiny: “When I tell you the words, tell everything to Aaron that he may tell the ruler to release the people of Israel out of his land.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Whatever I command you, you are to say to Aaron. And your older brother Aaron is to tell Pharao to let the Israelites go out of his country.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Tell Aaron everything I say to you (sing.), and have- him -say this to the king. He is-to-tell the king that he is-to-let- the Israelinhon -to-come-out from his nation.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “Everything I talk to you about, this you will speak to your older brother Aron with. And then Aron will talk to the great chief of Isip about allowing the Israel people to leave his area.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “That which I will tell for you all, you tell it for Aaron, and Aaron will go tell it for king of Egypt, let him let go people of Israel [that] they might leave from his country.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “You must tell everything I command you to tell to your older brother Aaron, and he will tell that to the king. He must tell the king to let the Israeli people leave his land.” (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.
This verse explains the purpose of verse 1. The channel of communication will be from God to the Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron. You shall speak means that Moses is to speak to Aaron, that is, he will “tell Aaron” what to say. All that I command you means that God will give specific commands to Moses, and then Moses in turn will “repeat” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) them to Aaron. And Aaron … shall tell Pharaoh completes the chain of communication.
In the Hebrew to let the people of Israel go is literally “and he will let go the sons of Israel.” Because of the “and,” a few translations interpret this as the result of the negotiations with the king, not as what Aaron is to say to him. New English Bible, for example, has “… he will tell Pharaoh, and Pharaoh will let the Israelites go….” Similarly Translator’s Old Testament has “Then Pharaoh will let the Israelites leave his land.” But this interpretation ignores what is said in both the preceding and the following verses. Most translations therefore interpret it as a summary of all the commands that will be communicated to the Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron.
Pharaoh is a title for “the king” of Egypt. The people of Israel were “the Israelites,” and go out of his land means “leave his country,” that is, Egypt.
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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