complete verse (Leviticus 11:31)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 11:31:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those animals are unclean as far as you are concerned. If a person has touched those animals even if they are dead, he must wash his clothes but he is unclean until sunset.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Among all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches [any of] these or their carcasses, will be unclean until evening time.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) are-to-consider these animals that crawl dirty/unclean just-like rats, mice, geckos, house-lizard, monitor lizards, crocodile/alligator, sand-lizards, and the chameleon. Whoever touches their dead bodies is-considered dirty/unclean until (it) becomes-dusk/twilight.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Those creatures that scurry across the ground defile you/cause you to become unacceptable to me; anyone who touches one of their carcasses must not touch other people until the 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 11:31

See verses 10 and 29. Compare also 5.2.

These are unclean to you: this may equally well be translated “You are to consider these unclean…” or “you must regard as disgusting…” (New Jerusalem Bible).

Whoever: see verse 24.

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 .