Joseph Sold as a Slave

Artwork by Sister Marie Claire , SMMI (1937–2018) from Bengaluru, India.

For more information about images by Sister Marie Claire and ways to purchase them as lithographs, see here .

For other images of Sister Marie Claire paintings in TIPs, see here.

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)

Judah, Judea

The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)


“Judah” and “Judea” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

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 Judah, Judah (son of Jacob) , and Tribe of Judah .

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Gen 37:26)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

complete verse (Genesis 37:26)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 37:26:

  • Kankanaey: “So then, Juda said, ‘We will emphatically have no benefit if we kill our younger-sibling and then we deny/conceal how he died.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then Judah said to his elder and younger brothers — ‘Even by killing our younger brother and hiding his blood, what will we have?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Juda said to his siblings, ‘What (is) our (incl.) gain/[lit. getting] if we (incl.) kill our (incl.) sibling and go-through-the-process-of-hiding/[lit. hide-and-hide] his death?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Judah said to his older and younger brothers, ‘If we kill our younger brother and hide his body, what will we gain?/we will not gain anything!” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 37:26

In this verse Judah, the second son, takes the initiative.

What profit is it … blood?: see Good News Translation; or “What advantage will there be for us?” This question expects a negative answer: “No advantage at all,” “We will gain nothing.” Conceal his blood is literally “cover his blood.” The thought behind this expression is that covering the blood (that was his life) is to prevent his blood (life) from crying out for vengeance. In 4.10 the voice of Abel’s blood cried out to God from the ground. See also Job 16.18; Ezek 24.7. In translation we need to speak of hiding the murder of Joseph, not letting anyone know that they have killed Joseph.

We may translate verse 26, for example, “Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What good would it do to murder our brother and then try to cover up his death?’ ”

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 .