practice divination

The Hebrew in Leviticus 19:26 that is translated as “practice divination” (or: “augury”) in English is translated in Kwere as sekemulole bawo or “look at the board,” a Kwere idiom for divination including various ways of telling the future or determining causes for misfortune. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

See also divination.

complete verse (Leviticus 19:26)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 19:26:

  • Kupsabiny: “Do (plur.) not eat meat which still has blood. Do not go around doing witchcraft.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “’Do not eat flesh [from which] the blood has not been drained [lit.: taken out].
    Do not try divination or to do incantation and chanting.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (plur.)] are- not -to-eat the meat which still has blood (in it).
    [You (plur.)] do- not -do what the one-who-divines/fortune-teller or sorcerer does.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘o not eat any meat that still has the animal’s blood in it.
    ‘o not consult spirits to find out what will happen in the future, and do not practice sorcery.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 19:26

You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it: literally “You shall not eat upon the blood.” The ancient Greek has “upon the mountains.” But most modern versions take it to mean the same thing as 17.12. Some commentators find this strange in the context of witchcraft, but it is quite possible that “upon the blood” refers to eating the sacrifice while standing on the ground where the blood had been spilled. While certain French versions (Bible en français courant and Traduction oecuménique de la Bible) adopt this interpretation, virtually all English versions follow the interpretation of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

Practice augury: a Roman “augur” was an official who foretold the future as a result of his observation of birds. But the English word augury has slightly changed in meaning, and it is not well known today. The term used here actually refers to divination, or the practice of foretelling the future, or discovering secret knowledge by consulting spirits.

Witchcraft: sorcery, or the use of supernatural powers to control events. Although Good News Translation has translated the two terms together with “any kind of magic,” it will be quite easy in many languages to find two separate terms. But it is true that the forbidding of the two should be all-inclusive, conveying the idea that all types of magic are prohibited.

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 .