swear / vow

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “swear (an oath)” or “vow” in English is otherwise translated as:

  • “God sees me, I tell the truth to you” (Tzeltal)
  • “loading yourself down” (Huichol)
  • “speak-stay” (implying permanence of the utterance) (Sayula Popoluca)
  • “say what could not be taken away” (San Blas Kuna)
  • “because of the tight (i.e. ‘binding’) word said to a face” (Guerrero Amuzgo)
  • “strong promise” (North Alaskan Inupiatun) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • “eat an oath” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • “drink an oath” (Jju) (source: McKinney 2018, p. 31).
  • “cut taboos” (Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)

In Bauzi “swear” can be translated in various ways. In Hebrews 6:13, for instance, it is translated with “bones break apart and decisively speak.” (“No bones are literally broken but by saying ‘break bones’ it is like people swear by someone else in this case it is in relation to a rotting corpse’ bones falling apart. If you ‘break bones’ so to speak when you make an utterance, it is a true utterance.”) In other passages, such as in Matthew 26:72, it’s translated with an expression that implies taking ashes (“if a person wants everyone to know that he is telling the truth about a matter, he reaches down into the fireplace, scoops up some ashes and throws them while saying ‘I was not the one who did that.'”). So in Matthew 26:72 the Bauzi text is: “. . . Peter took ashes and defended himself saying, ‘I don’t know that Nazareth person.'” (Source: David Briley)

See also swear (promise) and Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’, or ‘No, No’.

Go up and bury your father as he made you swear to do.

The Hebrew in Genesis 50:6 that is translated as “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear to do” or similar in English is translated in Chitonga as “No, so be it (Pe mbubo, i.e., you needn’t have said anything), go and bury your father.” “For the Tonga, a funeral needs no excuse.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 131)

Pharaoh

The term that is used for monarchs in ancient Egypt and is transliterated as “Pharaoh” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying the “fake metal beard (postiche)” that was word by Pharaohs during official functions. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Pharaoh” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Pharaoh .

complete verse (Genesis 50:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 50:6:

  • Newari: “Pharaoh said — ‘Go to Canaan and bury your father as you promised and come [back].” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When the king knew (about it),he said to Jose, ‘Fulfill what you (sing.) swore to your father. [You (sing.)] go and bury him.'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “After they gave the king the message, he replied, ‘Tell Joseph, ‘Go up and bury your father’s body, as you swore/solemnly promised that you would do.”” (Source: Translation for Translators)

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

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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. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Genesis 50:6

And Pharaoh answered: the king’s reply is in the second person, as though it were spoken directly to Joseph. Revised English Bible makes the answer less direct by saying “Pharaoh’s reply was:….” Some other translations say “the king sent word back, like this:….”

Go up … as he made you swear: many translations keep the second person as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. It may, however, be desirable to adjust the wording to agree with the indirectness in which Joseph’s request was made. This is done, for example, by Bible en français courant, which says “Pharaoh allowed Joseph to go and bury his father and thus to keep his promise.” Translators may find this a helpful model.

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 .