complete verse (Leviticus 11:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 11:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “Do not eat anything that lives in water and does not have things like wings and scales.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Any [animal] that lives in the water [and] does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) may eat any/whatever animals are-living in the water which has fins and scales. But you (plur.) are- not -to-eat what does-not-have fins and scales, and you (plur.) are- not -to-touch their dead bodies. You (plur.) are-to-consider these animals detestable.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You must detest everything that lives in the water that does not have fins and scales.” (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 Leviticus 11:12

This verse is almost identical with the beginning of verse 10 without adding any new information. It may be legitimate in some languages to restructure verses 10-12 as a whole and eliminate the redundancy.

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 .