complete verse (Leviticus 18:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 18:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “Do not sleep with the wife of your father because then you have abused/disrespected your father.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “’Do not have intercourse with your father’s wife, [your] stepmother. It is not OK to cause your father shame by doing like this. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Do- not -shame your (sing.) father by having-sexual-intercourse with your (sing.) mother or with his other wife/wives.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Do not have sex with any of your father’s other wives, because that would disgrace your father.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 18:8

Your father’s wife: this means any wife of the father other than the mother of the person spoken to here, since the matter of one’s own mother has already been dealt with in the previous verse. Some languages have completely different words for “mother” and “stepmother.” Good News Translation translates the meaning clearly with “any of his other wives.”

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 .