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”):
In Gbaya, the notion of early morning is emphasized with the ideophone sút as in the referenced verses.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
In Bauzi “swear” can be translated in various ways. In Hebrews 6:13, for instance, it is translated with “bones break apart and decisively speak.” (“No bones are literally broken but by saying ‘break bones’ it is like people swear by someone else in this case it is in relation to a rotting corpse’ bones falling apart. If you ‘break bones’ so to speak when you make an utterance, it is a true utterance.”) In other passages, such as in Matthew 26:72, it’s translated with an expression that implies taking ashes (“if a person wants everyone to know that he is telling the truth about a matter, he reaches down into the fireplace, scoops up some ashes and throws them while saying ‘I was not the one who did that.'”). So in Matthew 26:72 the Bauzi text is: “. . . Peter took ashes and defended himself saying, ‘I don’t know that Nazareth person.'” (Source: David Briley)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 26:31:
Newari: “Early in the morning the next day Isaac and they made a treaty. Then Isaac bid them farewell. Rejoicing with Isaac, they departed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Very early the next day, they swore to each other/[lit. one and one]. Then Isaac sent- them -away wherewith/[linker] good (was/being) their relationship.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Early the next morning they all swore/solemnly promised each other that they would do what they had promised. Then Isaac sent them home peacefully.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
And [they] took oath with one another is literally “and swore [each] man to his brother.” The language used shows that Isaac is treated as an equal with Abimelech. We may translate, for example, “They swore an oath to each other,” “They swore to each other to do as they had promised,” “They gave their word of trust to each other.” In some languages it may be necessary to say what it was that the parties promised to do. This may be supplied from the earlier discussion in verses 28-29; for example, “they promised they would not fight against each other and that they would keep their word.”
Although the Hebrew plural is ambiguous as to the number of persons who swore to each other, it is most likely that the reference is to Abimelech and Isaac as the heads of their groups of people. In this case, languages that have dual pronoun forms will have to say, for example, “The next day Isaac and the king they-two made a treaty with each other.”
And Isaac set them on their way means, as New English Bible translates, “Isaac bade them farewell” or Good News Translation “said good-bye to them.” At this point of the story, them refers to the three men, that is, to “Abimelech and his friends.”
They departed from him in peace: that is, “They left Isaac’s camp peacefully.” For in peace see verse 29.
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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