gentiles / nations

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).

Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).

In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also nations.

complete verse (Joshua 23:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 23:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “But if you turn away from God and intermarry with the communities that you are still with,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “If you abandon God, and if you set up alliances between you and the nations that remain, and if you inter-marry with them ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘But if you (plur.) turn-away from him and unite/become-one-together with the nations that remain among you (plur.), and take-a-wife or take-a-husband from them,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘If you turn away from doing what Yahweh desires and you associate with the people who are not Israelis, and if you marry them,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 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).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Joshua 23:12

If you are disloyal translates an intensive verb construction in Hebrew; “if you turn back” (Revised Standard Version).

Join with the nations is ambiguous and conveys little if any meaning to the reader. Join with translates the same verb rendered be faithful to in verse 8, and the reference is to adopting the policies of the nations among whom the Israelites live, particularly that of intermarriage. By transforming the “if” clause to an imperative and the verb disloyal to a negative form, the following results: “Be faithful to the LORD. Do not mix with the nations that are left in the land, and do not intermarry with them.” Or, the clauses of the second sentence may be inverted for what may be an arrangement that leads to a climax: “… Do not intermarry with any of the nations that are left in the land, and do not even associate with them.” Or yet another possibility: “… Do not be friendly with any of the nations left in the land. And, above all else, do not intermarry with them.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 23:12

23:12a

For: The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For can also be translated as “because” or “but.” Use a connecting word that fits this context in your language.

if: The word if introduces a condition that is explained in verse 12. The result is explained in verse 13. If the Israelites associate with the other nations around them, then God will not drive those nations out.

you turn away: The Hebrew verb construction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as turn away indicates emphasis. Some English versions represent this emphasis. For example:

But if you ever turn away (NET Bible)
-or-
If indeed you do go back (New King James Version)

turn away: The expression turn away is an idiom that means to be disloyal or unfaithful.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

For if you ever turn away ⌊from following him⌋
-or-
Because if you are at all disloyal ⌊to him⌋
-or-
Do not be unfaithful to him in any way

and cling to the rest of these nations that remain among you: The Hebrew verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as cling to is the same verb that the Berean Standard Bible translated as “hold fast to” in verse 23:8. It indicates that the Israelites should not have anything to do with the nations that still live in the land in which the Israelites settled. Instead, they should be faithful to Yahweh.

the rest of these nations that remain among you: This phrase is like the phrase in verse 23:7, but one more word is added at the beginning. The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as rest can also be translated “what is left” or “what remains.”

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

Because if you ever stop following Yahweh, and become friends with the nations who are left here among you,
-or-
Do not be unfaithful to Yahweh in any way. Do not have anything to do with the peoples who are still left among you in the land,

23:12b

if you intermarry: The Israelite people were not to marry the people of other nations.

and associate with them: There is an interpretation issue in this part of the verse. The Hebrew words are more literally “you go in them and they in you.”

(1) The clause “you go in them and they in you” indicates association or friendship of people with each other. For example:

and you associate with them (New International Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, English Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, NET Bible, God’s Word, Revised English Bible, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, Contemporary English Version, New American Standard Bible)

(2) The clause “you go in them and they in you” indicates sexual intercourse and is another way to refer to marriage. For example:

and intermarry with them (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, New Living Translation (2004))

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This is supported by many English versions and Bible commentaries.

Here are some ways to translate verses 12b–c:

and if you marry with them and you associate with them
-or-
Do not marry with them. Do not make friends with them.

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