circumcise, circumcision

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The Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “circumcise” or “circumcision” in English (originally meaning of English term: “to cut around”) are (back-) translated in various ways:

  • Chimborazo Highland Quichua: “cut the flesh”
  • San Miguel El Grande Mixtec, Navajo (Dinė): “cut around”
  • Javanese: “clip-away”
  • Uab Meto: “pinch and cut” (usually shortened to “cut”)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun, Western Highland Purepecha: “put the mark”
  • Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “put the mark in the body showing that they belong to God” (or: “that they have a covenant with God”)
  • Indonesian: disunat — “undergo sunat” (sunat is derived from Arabic “sunnah (سنة)” — “(religious) way (of life)”)
  • Ekari: “cut the end of the member for which one fears shame” (in Gen. 17:10) (but typically: “the cutting custom”) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Hiri Motu: “cut the skin” (source: Deibler / Taylor 1977, p. 1079)
  • Garifuna: “cut off part of that which covers where one urinates”
  • Bribri: “cut the soft” (source for this and the one above: Ronald Ross)
  • Amele: deweg cagu qoc — “cut the body” (source: John Roberts)
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “cut the flesh of the sons like Moses taught” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
  • Newari: “put the sign in one’s body” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Central Mazahua: “sign in his flesh”
  • Hopi: “being cut in a circle in his body” (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Mandarin Chinese: gēlǐ (割礼 / 割禮) or “rite of cutting” (Protestant); gēsǔn (割损 / 割損) or “cut + loss” (Catholic) (Source: Zetzsche)
  • Tibetan: mdun lpags gcod (མདུན་​ལྤགས་​གཅོད།), lit. “fore + skin + cut” (source: gSungrab website )
  • Kutu: “enter the cloth (=undergarments)” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Circumcision .

complete verse (Leviticus 12:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 12:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “That boy must be circumcised on the eighth day.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “On the eight days the son must be circumcised [lit.: must put the sign in the son’s body].” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “On the eighth day her child is-to-be-circumcised.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The baby son must be circumcised on the eighth day after he is born.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 12:3

On the eighth day: in some languages it will be necessary to say “Eight days later,” “Eight days after the child is born,” or “When the child is one week old.”

The flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised: the pronoun his obviously refers to the male child. But in languages where masculine and feminine pronouns are not distinguished, it may be wise to say “the child,” as in Good News Translation. In some cultures female circumcision is practiced, and this verse may be misunderstood.

As in the case of menstruation, there are also many very different ways of speaking of circumcision. Some examples are “to cut the child,” “to make the mark on the child,” “to cause the child to undergo the ceremony,” and “to remove the foreskin of the child.” But in some cultures the practice of circumcision may be unknown. In such cases the translator should attempt to find a descriptive expression that will not be shocking when read in public. But in some cases this may prove to be almost impossible, and it may be necessary to resort to a borrowed word, transliteration, or some special expression that will have to be explained in a glossary.

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 .