complete verse (Leviticus 13:24)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 13:24:

  • Kupsabiny: “If a person has his body burned and then there appears at the place of the wound something pink/purple or white,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “If any person is wounded by being burned by fire on the skin, and the new flesh of that wound burned by fire is turning reddish white or white,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If any person has a burn which becomes-infected and it becomes-white or becomes-red,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Then someone has a burn on his skin and a bright/shiny or white spot appears, and the flesh in that area is sensitive/painful,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 13:24

Verses 24-28 make up the second paragraph in this section, and they deal with burns.

When the body has a burn on its skin: this construction is awkward in English. The translators should try to find the most natural way of speaking of a person who has injured his or her skin through contact with fire.

Raw flesh: see verse 10.

Reddish-white or white: this word order reflects the Hebrew but is unnatural in English. Good News Translation has reversed the order of these two elements, because good English style seems to require the mention of the better-known color before the mixture of red and white. Many other languages will require the same kind of order.

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 .