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) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “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.)

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 .