The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is transliterated as “Jacob” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “lentil,” referring to the soup he gave his brother in exchange for his birthright (see Genesis 25:34). Note that another Spanish Sign Language sign for Jacob also users the sign for Jewish. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the signs signifying “smooth arm” (referring to the story starting at Genesis 27:11). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
The name that is transliterated as “Isaac” in English is signed in Spanish Sign Language and French Sign Language with a sign that is linked to his mother’s laughter when she hears that she will be pregnant with him (referring to Genesis 18:12 – 18:15) and also is the meaning of the Hebrew “Isaac” (Yitschaq — “he laughs”):
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 24:4:
Kupsabiny: “Then I took your ancestor Abraham from that country and led him to the country of Canaan. I enlarged his home/family there having given him his son Isaac who later got Jacob and Esau. I granted Esau the hills of Seir but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountain country of Seir. Your ancestor, Jacob and his descendants, however, went to Egypt.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “and Esau and Jacob were children/(sons) of Isaac also. I gave to Esau the mountains of Seir as his portion/share, while Jacob and his children/(sons) went to Egipto.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “When Isaac grew up, I enabled him to have twin sons, Jacob and Esau. I enabled Esau to live in the hilly area in Seir region, but many years later Jacob and his sons and their families went down to live in Egypt.” (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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau may be rendered as a complete sentence: “I gave Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau.”
Esau and his descendants are given the hill country of Edom (Revised Standard Version “Seir”), southwest of the Dead Sea.
Good News Translation has added your ancestor (before Jacob) to distinguish him from Esau, who was not their ancestor; but this does not seem necessary.
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 to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau: The Berean Standard Bible has placed the indirect object, Isaac, first in the sentence in order to emphasize it. The Hebrew text has normal Hebrew word order: “I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau.” Translate this sentence using the word order that is natural in your language.
Here is another way to translate this part of the verse:
I gave Isaac two sons: Jacob and Esau.
24:4b
The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible leaves untranslated but other English versions translate as “and” introduces the next event in the storyline.
I gave Esau Mount Seir to possess: The Mount Seir refers to the land that Esau and his descendants lived in. It was south of the Dead Sea. This land is often called “Edom,” and you may wish to translate it that way. See how you translated the term Seir in Joshua 11:17.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
I gave his son Esau the mountain country of Seir to live in -or-
I gave Esau the hilly country of Edom to be his own land
24:4c
but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt: The Hebrew verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as went down indicates descending to a lower elevation. If the grammar of your language does not keep track of elevation, it may be more natural to translate it as “went.”
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
but Jacob and his children went downhill to ⌊live in⌋ Egypt -or-
But Jacob and his family went to ⌊the land of⌋ Egypt
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