11I will provide for you there, since there are five more years of famine to come, so that you and your household and all that you have will not come to poverty.’
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 45:11:
Kankanaey: “so that I have a way to take-care-of you. Because there will still be five years of famine, and I don’t-want you and your families and your livestock to be-lacking.’ ‘” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Newari: “If you live there I will be able to care for you. For there are also five years of famine still remaining. Otherwise you will have no guardian” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I will-take-good-care of him there in Goshen because there are still five years of famine that will-come. I do- not -want that he and his household as-well-as his animals to become-hungry.'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Since there will be five more years of famine, I will make sure that you have food. If you do not come here, you and your family and all of your servants will starve.”” (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 important aspect of addressing someone else in one’s or someone else’s family is by selecting the correct word when referring to them. One way to do this is through the usage of an appropriate title within a conversation as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
In some conversations, archaic honorific forms for “father” are chosen that also contain chichi (父) and typically indicate a greater level of respect. That includes chichi-ue (父上). An interesting contrast between the use of of chichi and chichi-ue can be found when there is a reference to “my father and your father.” The former is addressed with chichi and the latter with chichi-ue (for more see 1 Kings 15:19, 1 Kings 20:34, and 2 Chronicles 16:3 along with addressing one’s father humbly / respectfully in Japanese (父)). (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
There I will provide for you: provide translates a verb meaning to “nourish,” “sustain,” or “support.” Joseph assures his father that he personally will take care of their needs or, as Bible en français courant says more concretely, “I will supply you with food here.” A number of translations say simply “I will look after you.” Joseph addresses Jacob, but included are all of his dependents too, as the final clause in this verse shows.
For there are yet five years of famine to come: see verse 6.
Lest you and your household … come to poverty: your household refers to Jacob’s family or extended family. All that you have refers to Jacob’s herds. Come to poverty renders a verb that normally means to inherit or take possession of something. However, the form used here means to “be impoverished” or to “be lacking.”
Verse 11 may require some adjusting to make it clear. We may translate, for example, “I can supply you with food here in Goshen—food for you, your family, and your animals, so that you will lack nothing. This famine is going to last five more years.” Another model is “This famine is going to last five more years, but here in Goshen I can give you enough food for you, your family, and your animals. Here you will not starve.”
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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