complete verse (Leviticus 11:24)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 11:24:

  • Kupsabiny: “If a person has touched an animal, bird or unclean insect that has died, that person is unclean until evening/sunset.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “From these you will become unclean. Whoever touches these carcasses will be unclean until evening time.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) are- not -to-touch the dead bodies of the animals that their hooves do-not-have splitting and does-not chew again their cud/food/what-they-ate. You (plur.) are- also not -to-touch the dead bodies of the animals that have four legs which have paws which (are) used-for-scratching. You (plur.) are-to-consider these animals dirty/unclean. Whoever happens-to-touch their dead bodies, he/she should wash his/her garment/clothes, but he/she still is-to-be-considered dirty/unclean until (it) becomes-dusk/twilight.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘There are certain creatures that if you touch their carcasses you will become defiled. Anyone who touches their carcasses must not touch other people until that evening.” (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 11:24 - 11:25

Some commentators and translations consider verses 24-25 a part of the preceding paragraph (New English Bible, for example). But this is not satisfactory, since verses 1-23 deal with the permission to eat and prohibition against eating certain animals, while beginning with verse 24 the text is concerned with the question of impurity which comes as a result of physical contact with dead bodies. The words their carcass in verses 24 and 25 therefore do not refer back to the insects mentioned in the preceding verses; rather they look forward to the mention of the animals in verses 26-28.

Whoever: the word may also mean “whatever” (compare 6.18 and 27), but it is generally agreed that in this context it refers to any person in the community. It may therefore be translated “anyone” or “everyone,” depending on the receptor-language habits when forming a general prohibition such as this.

Unclean: see 5.2.

Touches … carries: in this context the two verbs used seem to refer to involuntary and voluntary contact with the dead bodies. In some cases a person may have to remove a dead animal from the camp for the protection of the group as a whole, even if it made him unclean.

Unclean until the evening: that is, in a state preventing him from participating in the ritual activities of the community. This condition continues until the setting of the sun. In some languages “until the sun goes down (or, disappears)” or “until the end of the day” is the most natural translation of the phrase until the evening. But translators must remember that for the Jews the day ended with the setting of the sun. The translation should not give the impression that the state of impurity continues until midnight or until the following morning.

Wash his clothes: this is a literal washing of the clothing in water, but the reason behind it was based more on ritual than on physical cleanliness. However, a literal washing does not exclude the possibility that ritual cleansing was also involved.

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 .