brothers

“Brothers” has to be translated into Naro as “younger brothers and older brothers” (Tsáá qõea xu hẽé / naka tsáá kíí). All brothers are included this way, also because of the kind of plural that has been used. (Source: Gerrit van Steenbergen)

This also must be more clearly defined in Yucateco as older or younger (suku’un or Iits’in), but here there are both older and younger brothers. Yucateco does have a more general word for close relative, family member. (Source: Robert Bascom)

Jacob

The name that is transliterated as “Jacob” in English means “he will supplant,” “he that follows after,” “a heeler,” “one who trips up,” “takes hold by the land.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

It is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “lentil,” referring to the soup he gave his brother in exchange for his birthright (see Genesis 25:34). Note that another Spanish Sign Language sign for Jacob also users the sign for Jewish. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Jacob” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In German Sign Language it is a sign that shows the touching of the hip, described in Genesis 32:25:


“Jacob” in German Sign Language (source: Taub und katholisch )

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the signs signifying “smooth arm” (referring to the story starting at Genesis 27:11). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Jacob” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a sign signifying Jacob grabbing the heel of Esau during their birth (referring to Genesis 25:26). (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia )


“Jacob” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Esau.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jacob .

complete verse (Genesis 29:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 29:4:

  • Newari: “Jacob asked the shepherds — ‘Friends, where have you come from?'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Now, Jacob asked the ones-who-watched the sheep, ‘Friends, where- are you (pl.) -from?’ They replied, ‘From-Haran.'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “On that day, Jacob asked the shepherds who were sitting there, ‘Where are you from?’ They replied, ‘We are from Haran.'” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 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).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Genesis 29:4

Verses 4-8 describe Jacob’s conversation with the sheep herders at the well. The narrator gives a picture contrasting, on the one hand, Jacob who is excited and talkative, and on the other hand, the herdsmen who have little interest in this stranger; as Speiser says, “they act as if each word were just too much trouble.”

Jacob said to them: said must often be rendered as “asked” in the context of verses 4-6.

My brothers is a general address form used between men and does not imply in this context any kinship with Jacob. For a similar usage see 19.7. In English it may be rendered as “My friends” (Speiser, Good News Translation). In this context it is perhaps just as important for Jacob to address the shepherds with an appropriate greeting word as to try to find a close equivalent for brothers. A translation in an Australian language has Jacob say “Good day. Where are you from?”

Where do you come from?: Jacob asks about their origin, probably because he wishes to know where he is. Their short reply We are from Haran means they are from the town called Haran. In some languages this is expressed as “We are Haran’s people,” “Our village is Haran,” “Haran is where we live.” Translators should try to express this answer in as few words as possible.

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 .