neighbor

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” in English is rendered into Babatana as “different man,” i.e. someone who is not one of your relatives. (Source: David Clark)

In North Alaskan Inupiatun, it is rendered as “a person outside of your building,” in Tzeltal as “your back and side” (implying position of the dwellings), in Indonesian and in Tae’ as “your fellow-man,” in Toraja-Sa’dan it is “your fellow earth-dweller,” in Shona (translation of 1966) as “another person like you,” in Kekchí “younger-brother-older-brother” (a compound which means all one’s neighbors in a community) (sources: Bratcher / Nida and Reiling / Swellengrebel), in Mairasi “your people” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Mezquital Otomi as “fellow being,” in Tzeltal as “companion,” in Isthmus Zapotec as “another,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “all people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in most modern German translations as Mitmensch or “fellow human being” (lit. “with + human being”).

In Matt 19:19, Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Luke 10:29 it is translated into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that refers to a person who is socially/physically near. Ixcatlán Mazatec also has a another term for “neighbor” that means “fellow humans-outsiders” which was not chosen for these passages. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Noongar it is translated as moorta-boordak or “people nearby” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

abomination

The Hebrew that is translated as “abomination” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “hated thing” and in Kwere as zitibusa which means “evil” but also something that causes horror or disgust and revolts people. (Source for both: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

in Ngambay it is nékɔb or “taboo.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also detestable in the sight of God and holy.

complete verse (Ezekiel 22:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 22:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “Some commit adultery, others want the wives of their sons and even the sister of the other home (half-sister).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “There are also who have-sex with the wife of others, or with his daughter-in-law, or with his sister.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “There are men who have sex with someone else’s wife. Some men have sex with their daughters-in-law or with their sisters or half-sisters.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

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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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 22:11

This verse lists three more sexual sins that were done in Jerusalem.

One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife refers to adultery. For the Hebrew word rendered abomination, see 5.9. Since it refers to things that God hates, this clause may be rendered “Some men do something I hate by committing adultery with their neighbors’ wives.”

Another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law refers to incest, which makes both parties ritually unclean. For the Hebrew word rendered lewdly, see Ezek 21.9, where it is translated “lewdness.” Translators may express this clause as “Others make their daughters-in-law unfit for my presence by sleeping [or, having sexual intercourse] with them.”

Another in you defiles his sister, his father’s daughter also refers to incest, probably with a half sister. It is not clear why the Hebrew specifies this sister as his father’s daughter, because the crime applies equally to a half sister who is the daughter of the man’s mother. Defiles renders the same Hebrew verb translated “humble” in verse 10, so it is better rendered “forces … to have sexual relations” (New Century Version) or “rapes.” A model for this whole clause is “Others among you force their half sisters to sleep with them.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .