complete verse (Leviticus 15:33)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 15:33:

  • Kupsabiny: “a woman who is in her days of the month and a man who sleeps with a women who is unclean.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “and about how to deal with women during her menstrual period or with women that have bleeding besides their time of menstruation with men who have semen disease, and with men who sleep with menstruating women.” (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: “and for any woman during her monthly menstrual period, and for any man who has sex with a woman during her menstrual period.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 15:33

Her: as with the masculine pronoun in the previous verse, this may be more clearly translated by a noun phrase such as “any woman.”

Sick with her impurity: see verses 19-23. Compare also 12.2.

Any one … who has a discharge: this element seems to be lacking in Good News Translation. But since verses 32 and 33 are to be taken together as a summary statement, it may be said that the meaning of this statement is included in verse 32. If this is the case in the receptor language, the two verse numbers should be combined.

Male or female: after having said any one, it may be unnecessary in many languages to say explicitly male or female.

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 .