complete verse (Leviticus 11:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 11:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “‘Tell the people of Israel that among all the animals of the world which you (plur.) may eat are these:” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Say to the Israelites, These are that beasts you can eat among all the beasts that live on the earth.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The LORD commanded Moises and Aaron to tell this to the Israelinhon:
    You (plur.) may eat any animal that lives on earth in-which their hooves are-divided/split and chews again their cud/food/what-they-ate” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Tell the Israeli people that this is what Yahweh says: From all the animals that live on the land, these are the ones that you are permitted to eat:” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 Leviticus 11:1-2

Said to Moses and Aaron: here both Moses and Aaron are addressed, but the construction is the same as in 4.1 and 10.8 (see comments on those verses).

Say to the people of Israel …: literally “to the sons of Israel.” On the question of direct versus indirect discourse, see comments on 1.2 and 4.1.

The living things: there are two different words for “animals” in this verse. The first one, used here, has the basic meaning of “anything having life,” since the root on which the word is built is “life.” It is thus a very general term referring to all kinds of creatures.

Beasts that are on the earth: the second word originally had the idea of “dumb animals,” but the idea of dumbness is not essential in this context. When used together with the phrase that follows, the reference is to “land animals” as opposed to the various groups mentioned in the subsequent verses (creatures of the sea, birds, and insects). Although the receptor language may not divide created beings into categories that correspond exactly to these, an attempt should be made to reflect the world view of the ancient Jews. This phrase may be translated in some languages as “animals that live on dry ground” or “animals that walk on the earth.”

In 5.2 the same two words for animals found in this verse are used to distinguish domestic animals and wild animals. But in this case the first is very general and the second refers to one of the four categories mentioned in this chapter. It is not necessary to translate the same here as in chapter 5. Note that Good News Translation translates living things and beasts by the one word “animal.”

You may eat: in some languages the permissive idea of the verb here is difficult to translate. It is not as strong as “you shall eat” (King James Version), yet “you are able to eat” may give the wrong impression in some cases. Perhaps one may say “you have permission to eat,” or a more radical restructuring may be necessary, yielding something like “It is not forbidden you to eat….” Moffatt translates “you are allowed to eat.”

Many English versions put a colon at the end of this verse to show that it introduces a list (New English Bible, New International Version, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). Good News Translation simply makes verse 3 a continuation of the sentence begun in the middle of this verse.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .