The name that is transliterated as “Isaac” in English is signed in Spanish Sign Language and French Sign Language with a sign that is linked to his mother’s laughter when she hears that she will be pregnant with him (referring to Genesis 18:12 – 18:15) and also is the meaning of the Hebrew “Isaac” (Yitschaq — “he laughs”):
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 26:27:
Newari: “Isaac said to them — ‘Why have you come here? Formerly you despised me and drove me out of your land.'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Isaac asked them, ‘Why have- you (pl.) -come-to me? Are you (pl.) not angry with me, and that is why you in-fact had- me -leave-from your (pl.) place?'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Isaac asked them, ‘You acted in a hostile way toward me/treated me like an enemy before, and sent me away. So why have you come to me now?'” (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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Isaac said: said is followed by a question and must often be translated as “Isaac asked them.”
Why have you come to me…?: Isaac’s question is addressed in the plural to all three.
Seeing that … hate me: seeing translates the Hebrew connective, which we may also render in English as “since” or “because.” Hate is a literal rendering of the Hebrew verb. Isaac is no doubt accusing King Abimelech of having treated him with great dislike, and he confronts the king with a difficult question to answer. The central element in hate as it is used by Isaac in his question is hostility, opposition, enmity. Good News Translation says “so unfriendly,” Revised English Bible has revised New English Bible “hate” to “ill-disposed,” while New International Version says “hostile.”
Sent me away from you: that is, “made me get out of your country.” In some languages it will more natural to shift this to direct speech, “and said to me ‘Get out of my country.’ ”
A typical translation of the whole of Isaac’s speech in this verse is “Why [For what purpose] have you come to see me? The last time I saw you, you were hostile to me and you drove me out of your place.” A translation that places the question last as a climax says “You were bad friends to me before, and you chased me away from your country. Well, why have you come to see me now?”
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 .
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