complete verse (Genesis 28:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 28:2:

  • Newari: “‘You must not marry any Canaanite woman. Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father in Paddan-aram and marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (sing.)] get-ready and go to Padan Aram, there to your grandfather Betuel the father of your mother. Marry there one of the young-ladies [linker] a child of Laban the sibling/(brother) of your mother.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bislama (verses 1-3): “Isaac called Jacob to him and said to him, ‘You shall not marry a girl from Canaan. You must go back to Mesopotemia, to the house of your grandfather Bethuel. Laban your mother’s brother lives there. It would be good for you to marry one of his daughters.’ And then he blessed him saying,’ And my prayer is that God who has complete power will bless you, and give you plenty of children, so that you will become the ancestor of the people from plenty of places.'” (Source: Bill Camden in The Bible Translator 1995, p. 240ff.)
  • English: “Instead, go right away to Paddan-Aram in northwest Mesopotamia, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Ask one of the daughters of your mother’s brother Laban to marry you.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

second person pronoun with low register

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 show 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 Genesis 28:2

Arise: see comments on 27.43. Note that Good News Translation contrasts the negative and positive commands by saying “Go instead….” Another way of making this contrast is to say “It is better that you go….” For Paddan-aram see 25.20.

House of Bethuel your mother’s father: house refers to the home and family of Bethuel. Mother’s father keeps the literal Hebrew expression. Good News Translation and others say “your grandfather Bethuel.” Many languages distinguish between paternal and maternal grandfather. The latter is to be used here.

And take as wife from there is the second part of the instructions given to Jacob; that is, “get a wife from there,” “marry a girl from there.” In some languages other verbs are normally used for this activity; for example, “choose a young woman for yourself from….”

One of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother: in many languages different terms are used to distinguish between mother’s brother and father’s brother. In English we may say “uncle” for both. Jacob is being instructed to marry one of his cousins. If a cousin term is used in translation here, it should refer to “mother’s brother’s daughter.” If required, Laban may need to be indicated as “mother’s older brother.” Since the precise relationship between Jacob and Laban is given in verse 5, some translations prefer to use a more general term here: “… marry a daughter of your relative Laban.”

If cousin marriage of this type is considered taboo in the culture, it may be necessary to add an explanatory note at this point. Such a note may tell readers, for example, that marriage with a cousin was acceptable among the ancient Hebrews and continues to be common among people in the Middle East today.

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 .