The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Greek that is translated in English typically as “obedience” or “obey” is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “thing hearing,” because “to hear is to obey.” (Source: Marjorie Davis in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 34ff. )
In Huba it is translated as hya nǝu nyacha: “follow (his) mouth.” (Source: David Frank in this blog post )
In Central Mazahua it is translated as “listen-obey” and in Huehuetla Tepehua as “believe-obey” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in Noongar as dwangka-don, lit. “hear do” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 22:2:
Kupsabiny: “and said to them, ‘You have followed every word that Moses told you, coming to aid me in all that I have told you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “and said to them, "You have obeyed all the commands that Moses, the servant of the LORD has given you, and you have also obeyed every word I have spoken to you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Josue said to them, ‘You (plur.) have-done everything that Moises the servant of the LORD commanded you (plur.) and also followed/obeyed everything that I commanded.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “He said to them, ‘You have done everything that Moses, who served Yahweh well, told you to do. You have also done what I told you to do.” (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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
The men of these tribes had obeyed Moses’ command and had also obeyed all of Joshua’s orders, so now they are allowed to return home.
The LORD’s servant, may be translated as a verb phrase and the verse arranged in chronological sequence: “Moses served the LORD. He told you what to do, and you always obeyed him. I also gave you commands, and you obeyed all my commands.” Or, in more detail. “Moses served the LORD and he gave you commands in behalf of the LORD. You obeyed all his commands. Then after Moses died, I gave you commands in behalf of the LORD. You also obeyed all my commands.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
and told them: It may be more natural in some languages to begin a new sentence here. For example:
He said to them (Good News Translation) -or-
He told them (New Living Translation (2004))
22:2b
You have done all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you: In Numbers 32:16-32 Moses had told the people of these clans to help their fellow Israelites conquer the land that was west of the Jordan River. In this verse Joshua says that they have done what they were told.
The verb You have done can also be translated “you have obeyed” or “you have kept.”
Moses the servant of the LORD: This phrase first occurred in 1:1. You should translate it as you did there.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
You (plur.) have done everything that Moses, the servant of Yahweh, commanded you ⌊to do.⌋ -or-
Moses was Yahweh’s servant. You have obeyed all the commands that Moses gave you.
22:2c
and you have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you: in 1:17 the people of these clans promised to obey Joshua, as they had obeyed Moses.
obeyed my voice: The Hebrew clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as obeyed my voice is more literally “listened to my voice.” This is a Hebrew idiom that means “to obey.”
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
You have done everything that I commanded you ⌊to do⌋ -or-
You have obeyed all the commands that I gave you ⌊to do⌋
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