17He instructed the one in the lead, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’
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)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 32:17:
Newari: “He instructed the servant who would go first [lit.: before [them] all] — ‘Having met my elder brother Esau, if he asks you — ‘Whose man are you, Where are you about to go, To whom does the herd going before you belong'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “He told the servants who were-watching- over the first/leading group, ‘If you (pl.) (and) Esau meet-each-other and he asks whose servants you (pl.) (are) and where you (pl.) (are) going, and [if] whose animals those (are) which you (pl.) are-bringing,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “He said to the servant who was going with the first group, ‘When my brother Esau meets you, and he asks you, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?'” (Source: Translation for Translators)
He instructed the foremost: foremost refers to the servant or servants who accompany the first herd that will reach Esau. We may translate, for example, “Then Jacob said to the servants of the first herd” or “… the servants of the herd that went first.”
When Esau my brother: my brother may have to be expressed by the term for “older brother” or “older twin.”
Meets you, and asks: in some parts of the world the questions are those that are obvious, the questions that are always asked. But in other parts this may not be the case; and so some translations find it necessary to say “Perhaps when my brother meets you he will ask:….” In some parts of the world also, the three questions are not in the order that people regularly follow; for instance, it is very common for the first question that people ask when they meet each other on the road to be “Where are you going?” Translators should be ready to change the order of the questions here in line with local custom.
To whom do you belong?: Jacob knows that Esau will recognize these herdsmen by their appearance and by their conduct as the slaves or servants of some wealthy herd owner. Accordingly Good News Translation gives a good model.
Where are you going?: this question will be answered when Esau learns that the animals are a gift for him.
Whose are these before you?: these refers to the animals in the herds. Before you probably refers to the herds being driven, as in verse 19. This question will give the servants an opportunity to say they are a gift for Esau from Jacob.
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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