4When they had gone only a short distance from the city, Joseph said to his steward, “Go, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you returned evil for good? Why have you stolen my silver cup?
The term that is transliterated as “Joseph” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that relates to a) the coat he wore (see Gen 37:3), b) the holding of his clothes by Potiphar’s wife (see Gen 39:12), and c) the many times Joseph experienced grief. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Joseph” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign that signifies “dream,” referring to Jacob’s dream at Bethel (see Genesis 28:10 and the following verses). (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 44:4:
Kankanaey: “When they had only gone-slightly-far from the city, Jose said to that slave of his, ‘Go pursue those people. When you catch-up-to them, this is what you (sing.) are to say. ‘Why have you recompensed the good that my master did to you with evil?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Newari: “As soon as passed a little from the city, Joseph said to the chief of the workers in the house — ‘Go, run and meet them. Having met them, speak like this — ‘Why have you done evil in exchange for good?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “They had- not yet -gone- very -far from the city when Jose said to his steward, ‘Quick, pursue those men! And if/when you (pl.) catch-up with them, tell them, ‘Why have- you (pl.) -repaid bad for the goodness we (excl.) have-shown to you (pl.)?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “When they had not gone far from the city, Joseph said to the servant in charge of things in his house, ‘Pursue those men immediately. When you catch up to them, say to them, ‘We did good things for you! Why have you paid us back by doing something bad to us?” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 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, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Up, follow after the men: Joseph’s instructions to the steward may be expressed as “Go, follow them” or “Go after those men.”
When you overtake them: that is, “when you catch them,” or we may combine this with the first command; for example, “Go after those men and catch them.”
Why have you returned evil for good?: in Revised Standard Version verse 4 has two “why” questions. The first is abstract and the second concrete. However, as the Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation (verse 5) footnotes show, the second question Why have you stolen my silver cup? is not in the Hebrew text but is taken from the Septuagint.
Modern translations handle this question in three ways:
(1) as in Revised Standard Version, in which both questions are placed in verse 4,
(2) as in Good News Translation, in which the second question is placed in verse 5, and
(3) as in Traduction oecuménique de la Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, which omit the second question.
Hebrew Old Testament Text Project favors keeping the question Why have you stolen my silver cup? and placing it in verse 5, as in Good News Translation. Apparently the Septuagint translators felt this addition was necessary for correct understanding, and it is recommended to modern translators also. This question must be expressed in some languages as, for example, “Why have you stolen my master’s silver cup?”
The expression returned evil for good is difficult and may have to be restructured in some languages to indicate the people who did the good and the evil actions. Two examples of such restructuring are “We [exclusive] did good to you. Why have you done bad to us?” and “My master was very good to you. Why have you behaved badly to him in return?”
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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