complete verse (Genesis 12:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 12:12:

  • Kankanaey: “Surely when those-from-Egipto see you (sing.), they will say/think that we (dual) are husband-and-wife (lit. spouse-unit) and they will-kill-me so-that then they will marry you (sing.).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “When the ones who live in the land of Egypt see you [they] will say — ‘This one looks to be his wife’ Then they will kill me, but you they will not kill.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If you (sing.) will-be-seen by the [plural] Egiptohanon they will-say that you (sing.) (are) my wife, so they will-kill me and you (sing.) on-the-other-hand (they-will) not.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When the people in Egypt see you, they will say, ‘This woman is his wife!’ and they will kill me in order to get you, but they will not kill you.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
  • Wubuy: “When the Egyptians see you, they might kill me, because I’m your husband, but they won’t kill you.” (Source: Michael Hore in The Bible Translator 2004, p. 448ff. )

Translation commentary on Genesis 12:12

And when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’: some translators will have problems with a quote within a quote, and so they may have to adjust this to say, for example, “… they will say that you are my wife.” Note Good News Translation “they will assume that you are my wife….” Abram then draws the conclusion then they will kill me, but they will let you live. If it is necessary to make the reasons for their actions clearer than this, we may say, for example, “they will kill me in order to take you.” This expression of the motives of the Egyptians is expressed in another way by one translation that says “… see that you are a pretty woman, and perhaps they will desire you. If they know you are my wife, then they will kill me….”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .