13But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds, which are nursing, are a care to me, and if they are overdriven for one day, all the flocks will die.
The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is transliterated as “Jacob” in English 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)
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)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 33:13:
Newari: “Jacob said — ‘You certainly know — these children are still very soft. Furthermore I must also care for these cattle that drink milk. If they walk the whole day they will die.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “But Jacob said, ‘You (sing.) know that the children (are) slow walking, and I must very carefully/[lit. well] care-for the animals that are-nursing. If we (incl.) will-force the animals to-walk for the whole day, maybe they will-die.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Jacob had no intention to go with Esau, but he said, ‘You know, sir, that the children are weak, and that I must take care of the female sheep and cows that are sucking their mother’s milk/nursing their young. If I force them to walk fast for a long distance in just one day, the animals will all die.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God or a person or persons to be greatly honored, the honorific prefix go- (御 or ご) can be used, as in go-zonji (ご存じ), a combination of “know” (zonji) and the honorific prefix go-.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 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, the more venerable anata-sama (あなた様) is used, which combines anata with the with a formal title -sama.
But Jacob said to him: in this context said introduces an excuse, reason, or objection. Jacob does not accept Esau’s proposal, but he is not so confident in his new relationship with his brother that he can express open disagreement.
My lord knows that the children are frail: Jacob continues to address his brother as his superior, a fact that tells Esau not to take Jacob’s remarks at their face value. Frail translates a word meaning “inexperienced” or “tender,” as in 1 Chr 22.5; Pro 4.3. The idea is probably that the children are young and inexperienced in the hardships of desert travel. In many languages this is expressed simply as “the children are not [very] strong.” The verb knows is used as a reminder to Esau. In some languages it may necessary to say, for example, “Don’t forget, my lord, that my children are young” or “Remember, sir, that….”
Flocks and herds refers to all of Jacob’s livestock, his animals.
Giving suck is literally “giving suck [suckling, feeding with milk] with me.” These are the adult female animals in Jacob’s herds (“with me”) that are suckling their young. These animals must move slowly, as they have to allow their young to drink as they go. In many languages something like Good News Translation “[the livestock] with their young” will be sufficient to indicate what this text means.
Are a care to me and Good News Translation “I must think of” are not stated in the Hebrew but clearly express what it means.
Overdriven for one day: overdriven means “forced to go too fast” or “pushed too hard.” The result of driving the animals too hard for even one day will be to cause them to die. Some examples of how this is translated are “If we make them run hard for one day they will die,” “If we make them travel fast, in just one day they will all be dead.”
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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