cattle, livestock

The Hebrew that is translated in English as “livestock” (or “cattle”) is translated in Newari as “living beings brought up in a house” or “living beings cared for in a house” (source: Newari Back Translation). Specifically “cattle” is “cows and oxen.”

In Kwere it is “animals that are being kept.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Leviticus 19:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 19:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “Obey my commandments. Do not accept unequal animals to mate. Do not mix wheat and barley and plant in one/the same field. Do not sew two unequal things together to become one cloth.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “’You must obey my decrees.
    ‘And Do not bring two breeds of animals to a single place to mate.
    "’Do not sow two species of seed in the same field.
    "’Do not wear clothing which have two kinds of thread.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (plur.)] obey my decrees/[lit. what-is-to-be-followed]. You (plur.) do- not -cause-an animal -to-mate with a different kind of animal. [You (plur.)] do- not -plant two kinds of seeds in one field. [You (plur.)] do- not -wear clothing which (is) made from two kinds of clothing-material.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Obey my laws.
    ‘o not allow two different kinds of animals to mate with each other.
    ‘o not plant two different kinds of seed in the same field.
    ‘o not wear clothing made from two different kinds of material.” (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 19:19

You shall keep my statutes: this command points forward and thus begins a new paragraph or section in most modern versions. It stresses the importance of those rules which follow.

Keep …: see verse 3.

Cattle: the term is to be understood here in its most general sense, referring to all animals over which humans have control. Both Good News Translation and New American Bible rightly translate “domestic animals.”

Breed with: there will be a wide variety of ways of expressing the idea of mating animals. Some languages may use a causative form of the verb, meaning “cause to have intercourse” or “cause to meet together.” Others may say something like “allow to come together” or “permit to produce offspring (with a different kind).”

Different kind: literally “in two kinds.” This word is found only here (three times) and in Deuteronomy 22.9. It is not the same as in Genesis 1, “after its own kind (or, species).” But it is, for all practical purposes, the opposite of the Genesis expression, and so may be translated in a similar manner but with a negative. For example, “not after its own kind” or “not of the same species.”

Two kinds: the same word translated a different kind with regard to animals is used here with reference to seed and cloth material. This is not intended as a prohibition against mixing two varieties of the same kind of grain (as two types of corn), but rather against mixing two totally different grains.

Nor shall there come upon you: this is a roundabout way of saying “You must not wear…” or “Do not put on….” In most cases the more direct statement will be better.

Stuff: this word is used only here and in Deuteronomy 22.11. In the later passage it is defined as “wool and linen together.” This, then, is the source of the King James Version rendering. Many languages will have difficulty in finding such a general word for “material” or “fabric.” The word may also be understood in the sense of “thread” (New American Bible) or “yarn” (New English Bible). So it is possible to say “anything made of two different kinds of thread.”

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 .