discharge

The Hebrew that is translated as “discharge” or similar in English is translated in Kalanga with tjigwele, a term that refers to sexually transmitted diseases. (Source: project-specific notes in Paratext)

In Kwere, the term ufila is used which implies pus (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext) and in Newari it is translated as “disease of the semen.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)

complete verse (Leviticus 15:32)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 15:32:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those are the laws for a person/man whose genitals drip, who has an emission,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “These are the regulations for how to deal with men who suffer from semen disease, and the emission of semen,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Those are the regulations/[lit. what-is-to-be-followed] concerning a man whose semen comes-out or there-is (fluid) coming-out from his genitals/sexual-organ because of his diseases/illness, and concerning a woman who (has) her monthly-period or is-hemorrhaging/the-coming-out of blood which (is) not yet (the time of) her monthly-period, and concerning a man who lies-down-beside/(has-sexual-relations-with) a woman who is-considered dirty/unclean.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Those are the regulations for a man who has a fluid that flows from his sexual organs or who should not be touched because some of his semen spills out while having sex with a woman,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

law

The Greek, Hebrew, and Ge’ez that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), in Yucateco as “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198), and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

McKnight’s English translation (publ. 2023) has it as Covenant Code. He explains (p. 301): “The law of Moses was a covenantal arrangement by God with the people of Israel. This code of conduct expected of them was not the same as law in the Roman world or what law means to us today. It is a revelation of God’s will for God’s covenant people but requires ongoing interpretation and adjustments.”

In a 1922 translation into Chagatai, a precursor language of both Uzbek and Uighur, it is translated with the Arabic loan word shari’at (شريعت), originally meaning “(Islamic) law (Shari’a).” (Source: F. Erbay and F.N. Küçükballı in Acta Theologica 2025 45/2, p. 133ff. )

See also teaching / law (of God) (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on Leviticus 15:32

This is the law: see 6.2. Compare also 11.46-47.

Him: the pronoun used here refers to any man who has a discharge of semen. In most languages it will be clearer to say “the man” or “any man.”

A discharge: see verses 2-15.

An emission of semen: see verses 16-17.

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 .