sell

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sell” in English is translated in Noongar as wort-bangal or “away-barter.” Note that “buy” is translated as bangal-barranga or “get-barter.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)

See also buy and buying / selling.

complete verse (Hebrews 12:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 12:16:

  • Uma: “Be careful that none of you commits adultery or behaves wrongly [i.e., immorally]. Be careful that none of you has a character like Esau, for he did not [emphatic] esteem God’s blessing. The blessing of God that he would have gotten from his father, he actually sold it [emphatic] to his younger sibling, he traded it for nothing more than a serving of food/rice.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Likewise be careful so that none of you commit fornication-adultery and so that none of you is like Esaw who did not consider God. This Esaw, because he was the oldest child, God’s covenant/promise belonged to him. But he exchanged all that belonged to him, all that belonged to the oldest child, for one bowl of food.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Be on your guard so that there is none of you whose behavior will be filthy or who turns his back upon God, because Esau was like long ago. His right as oldest son he traded for mere food.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “See to it also that none of you sleeps-with one who isn’t his spouse and that no one follows-the-example of Esau who had no thoughts for God. Because Esau, he exchanged for just one meal his right as firstborn which he would have inherited according to what God commanded.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Be careful also that there is no-one among you who behaves-immorally with one who is not his spouse. And hopefully there will be nobody at all among you who does not take seriously the things which are far-from-ordinary in the sight of God, like Esau who, as for his rights/authority as oldest-child, he exchanged it for just one plate of food.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Do not be fornicators. Do not do like Esau did when he was hungry and for just one meal he sold his inheritance which was due him since he was the elder son.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Esau

The name that is transliterated as “Esau” in English means “covered with hair,” “hairy.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Finnish Sign Language and American Sign Language it is translated with the signs signifying “hairy forearm” (referring to the story starting at Genesis 27:11). (Source: Tarja Sandholm, Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Esau” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also hairy (like Esau).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Esau .

Translation commentary on Hebrews 12:16

Let no one does not mean “Do not permit anyone to become” but “No one should become.”

Immoral means “sexually immoral,” King James Version “fornicator,” probably in the literal sense, rather than “unfaithful to God.” In a number of languages sexual immorality is described as “sleeping with a woman who is not your wife.” But such immorality is frequently spoken of by means of idioms, for example “to live like a dog,” or “to chase after women,” or “to be always looking for vulvas.”

Unspiritual means “having no respect for holy things”; Bible en français courant; similarly Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch links this with the rest of the sentence: “Because he did not honor God, he sold his privilege as elder son….”

A single meal is emphatic, but King James Version‘s “one morsel of meat” (that is, “food”) goes too far; see Genesis 25.33-34.

The use of a term such as sold may suggest some kind of monetary payment. But since only an exchange was involved, it may be necessary to translate who for a single meal sold his rights as the older son as “who in exchange for just one meal gave up what was coming to him as the older son” or “… the older brother.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .