full, plenty

The Hebrew that is translated as “plenty” in English is translated in Low German with the alliteration in Hüll un Füll or “enough and to spare (i.e. abundant)” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1937, republ. 2006).

The same idiom is also used in Luke 6:25 for “full.”

See also in abundance.

complete verse (Genesis 41:31)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 41:31:

  • Kankanaey: “And the wealth of the country in the preceding years will not be remembered, because the famine that will come-last will be extremely fearful.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Because of the famine that comes later, the previous good will be forgotten, for this famine will be very frightening.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “A very severe famine/hunger will-come as if the land of Egipto will- not -know that it had-experienced abundance.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The people will forget how plentiful food was previously, because the famine will be very terrible.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 41:31

Verse 31 parallels verse 30 by announcing again that the famine will be so severe that the years of plenty will be forgotten.

The plenty will be unknown: unknown in this context has the sense that the famine will cause the evidence of the plentiful years to disappear. This is expressed by Speiser as “No trace will be left in it of the abundance.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “There will be left no signs of the abundance,” Revised English Bible “The good years will leave no trace in the land….”

By reason of that famine which will follow is literally “in the face of the famine that follows.”

For it will be very grievous: it refers to the famine. Grievous translates the Hebrew for “heavy,” which here has the sense of “severe,” “terrible,” “painful.”

In some languages it will be more natural to reverse the order of clauses and say, for example, “The famine will be so severe that nothing will be seen of the years when the crops were good” or “The famine … so bad that no sign of the years of good crops will be seen.”

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 .