The Hebrew that is translated as “offering” in English is translated in Venda as nduvho. J. A. van Rooy (in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 439ff. ) explains: “It is derived from the verb u luvha (‘to pay homage to; to acknowledge the superiority of; at the same time usually asking for a favour’). It is sometimes used as a synonym for ‘asking something from a chief. The noun nduvho means ‘a gift of allegiance,’ which corresponds closely with minchah (מִנְחָה) as ‘offering of allegiance.’ This term nduvho has in it the elements of subjugation, of reciprocity (asking for a favor), of being taken up into the same community as the chief in allegiance to him. Only the element of expiation is missing.”
In Northern Emberá, it is translated as “given to God freely.” (Source: Loewen 1980, p. 108)
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “brother” in English is translated in Kwere as sekulu, in Elhomwe as mbalaawo´, and in Mandarin Chinese as gēgē (哥哥), all “older brother.”
Note that Kwere also uses lumbu — “older sibling” in some cases. (Source for Kwere and Elhomwe: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)
In Lama it is translated as “older or younger brother.” (Source: Neal Brinneman)
In many, if not most of the languages in the Philippines, proper nouns, such as personal names, are tagged with a marker that signals their grammatical role within a sentence. For Tagalog and the Visayan languages , this typically includes si to mark the proper noun as the actor or subject (nominative case), ni to mark the proper noun as an owner (genitive case), and kay to mark the proper noun as as an indirect object, i.e. the one to or toward whom an action is directed (dative case). All of these also have plural forms — sina, nina and kina respectively — and unlike in the biblical languages or in English, the plural form has to be used when only a single proper name is mentioned but implicitly that proper name includes more than just one.
In this verse, where English translates “he (spent that night there),” the Tagalog translation translates “sina Jacob” because the context of the text makes clear that Jacob was with a number of other people. (Source: Kermit Titrud and Steve Quakenbush)
The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
In Malagasy culture, the sea is perceived as sacred because it was a path taken by the ancestors. That is why the Malagasy word for the “sea” is ranomasina, which literally means “the sacred water.” The word masina actually has two different meanings: “salted” and “sacred/holy.” Salt is used for the conservation of some foods, such as meat or fish, that are to be set aside for later use. In this sense, the Malagasy phrase for “Holy Spirit” has the literal meaning of “Salted Spirit.” (Source: Brigitte Rabarijaona in The Bible Translator 2022, p. 103ff.)
“Sea” (or: “ocean”) is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “water land” and in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac as “very big lake.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 32:13:
Kankanaey: “When it-was-finished that Jacob prayed, he-chose-some-of his animals that he would give to Esau,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Newari: “That night he stayed there. For his elder brother Esau he chose like this from the wealth that he had.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Jacob and-company slept there during-the-night. In the morning, Jacob chose animals to-give-as-gift to Esau:” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Jacob slept there that night. The next morning he selected some animals to give to his brother Esau.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Note that Good News Translation places verse numbers 13-15 at this point in order to avoid any confusion from inserting numbers 14 and 15 into the list of numbered animals.
So he lodged there that night: for lodged see 24.23. The last place mentioned by name was the place of the encounter with the angels, Mahanaim in Gen 32.2. The text does not say that Jacob has moved from there. If it is essential for the coherence of the story, translators may say, for example, “Jacob spent the night in the place where he had prayed” or “… spent the night in one of the two camps.”
Took from what he had with him refers to selecting animals from the camp where he was located. In some languages it will be necessary to say “The next day he took….” Note Good News Translation and Revised English Bible “After spending the night there, Jacob chose….”
A present for his brother Esau: present translates a word used in 4.3 and translated “offering” by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. See there for comments. As a gift to a superior the word clearly suggests the idea of tribute, that is, a payment made by an inferior to a superior to obtain protection. See 2 Kgs 8.9. Verse 20 states that the gift is to appease Esau. Many languages have special names for such “gifts.”
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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