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 47:16:
Kankanaey: “Jose also said, ‘If all your money is used-up, bring your animals so that I will exchange-(them) for food.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Newari: “Joseph said to them — ‘If the money you had has all been spent, bring cattle. I will give you grain in return for your cattle.'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Jose said, ‘If you (pl.) really/[emphasis marker] do- not -have any more money, [you (pl.)] bring your (pl.) animals here and that will-be- your (pl.) -payment for food.'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Joseph replied, ‘Since your money is all gone, bring me your livestock. If you do that, I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.'” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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. )
Give your cattle: that is, “Bring me your livestock [animals].”
And I will give you food in exchange for your cattle: food is not mentioned here in the Hebrew text, but it is clearly suggested from verse 15 and is needed to make the meaning clear. No rate of exchange is mentioned, but according to verse 18 the people exchanged all their livestock for grain. In translation food in exchange for your cattle is sometimes rendered “bring your animals as payment for food” or “use your animals to pay for food.”
If your money is gone: in some languages the “if” clause must be stated before the consequence. In that case we may translate, for example, “If you [plural] don’t have any more money, bring me your animals and I will exchange them for grain.”
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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.