Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 34:12:
Newari: “Bride price and gift, please say how much [you] want, I will give as much as you say. Just give me your daughter in marriage.'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “You (pl.) are-free how-much (will-be) your (pl.) asking-price and what I will-give-as-a-gift for my marrying your (pl.) sister/sibling. I will-pay you (pl.) however much is your (pl.) asking-price as-long-as you (pl.) just have- Dina -marry me.'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Tell me what gifts you want and what bride price you want, and I will give you what you ask for. I just want you to give the girl to me to be my wife.'” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In this verse, sashiageru (差し上げる) (I will give you), a respectful form of ageru (あげる) or “give” is used. In the second instance of “give” (give me the young woman), kudasaru (下さる) is used, a respectful form of kureru (くれる) or “give.” Also, em>ossharu (おっしゃる), the respectful form of iu (言う) or “say / speak” is used.
Other uses of honorifics in this verse include:
Different degree of politeness are shown through the choice of a benefactive construction. Here, omotome (お求め) or “seek” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”
The honorific form kudasai (ください) reflects that the action is called for as a favor for the sake of the beneficiary. This polite kudasai imperative form is often translated as “please” in English. While English employs pure imperatives in most imperative constructions (“Do this!”), Japanese chooses the polite kudasai (“Do this, please.”).
Ask of me ever so much as marriage present: Ask of me is literally “Pile on me.” Shechem feels confident that he (supported by his father) can bear the weight of the demands that will be put on him by Dinah’s family. In the marriage negotiation there are two payments or exchanges to be made by the groom. Marriage present (Good News Translation “payment for the bride”) translates the Hebrew term that refers to the bride price that will be paid by the groom to the bride’s family. The bride price enables the transfer of the bride from her father’s household to that of the groom. According to Exo 22.16 if a man seduced a girl, he had to pay the bride price as a penalty and make her his legal wife. The marriage present is not money or property given to the bride by her husband or the husband’s family; it refers to money or property (goods, animals, land) that is passed from the groom (husband) to the father or family of the bride. Gift refers to the presents that will be presented to Dinah’s family. In 24.53 the same term refers to the gifts given by Abraham’s servant to Rebekah and to her mother and brother.
I will give according as you say to me: this repeats for emphasis what Shechem has already said in verse 11.
Some examples of the way this part of the verse may be translated are:
(1) “You can set the bride price and tell me what I have to give you. It doesn’t matter how much you ask, I will give it to you.”
(2) “Name a big buying amount [bride price] and a big present; I will give it to you, just as you say.”
(3) “You tell me what presents you want me to give you. And you can raise the bride price as high as you like. If you are happy for her to marry me, I will pay whatever price you set.”
Only give me the maiden to be my wife: only, which translates the Hebrew connective, is used in some English versions to express something equivalent to a condition: “I will give you as much as you ask for if you will give me the girl to be my wife.” In Revised Standard Version and a number of other versions, only serves to emphasize Shechem’s request at the end of his speech, with the sense of “This is the [only] thing I want.” For maiden see verse 3.
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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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 third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used. In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.”
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