complete verse (Leviticus 17:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 17:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “the life of anything is in its blood. So, I have said to the people of Israel they must not eat the blood of anything. And a person who has eaten (it) he shall be chased away from the people of God.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “For the life of the body is in the blood. So I have told the Israelites — ‘It is not OK to eat the blood of any creature. For the life of all living beings is their blood.’ Whoever eats it, he/she must be driven out."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “because the life of every creature (is) in his blood. That is why the LORD told you (plur.) that you (plur.) are- not -to-eat blood of any creature; and anyone who eats (it) you (plur.) are-to- no-longer -consider a member of-you (plur.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “This is because the life of every creature is in its blood. And that is why I have said to you Israelis that anyone who eats blood must no longer be allowed to associate with my people.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Leviticus 17:14

Although the wording is slightly different here, the meaning of the first phrase in this verse is the same as verse 11, “the life of the flesh is in the blood.” Good News Translation has therefore translated the two expressions identically. In Revised Standard Version the same meaning is again repeated later in the verse.

Therefore: both Good News Translation and New International Version have “that is why….” The fact already stated explains why the LORD has forbidden the eating of meat from which the blood has not been drained.

I: to be changed to “the LORD” if indirect speech is used.

Eat the blood: see verse 10.

Be cut off: see 7.20 as well as verses 4, 9, and 10.

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 .