complete verse (Leviticus 20:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 20:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “If a man sleeps with the wife of his father, that person has been disloyal. Both of them are to be killed because they have brought it on themselves.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “’One who has intercourse with his own father’s wife causes him to feel shame. They must both be killed. Such a person is guilty of a great crime ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If a man has-sexual-intercourse with one of the wives of his father, he has-shamed his father. So the man and the woman/[lit. the two of them of the woman] must be- killed/put-to-death. They (are) responsible for their (own) death.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘If a man has sex with one of his father’s wives, he has disgraced his father. So both that man and that woman must be executed, they will be responsible for their own deaths.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 20:11

Lies with: that is, “has sexual intercourse with.” See 15.18. Compare also 18.8.

Has uncovered his father’s nakedness: see 18.7.

Shall be put to death: again the emphatic construction seen in verses 2, 4, 9, and 10 above.

Their blood is upon them: in contrast with verse 9, where the singular his and him are found, the plural pronouns are used here. But the expression still emphasizes the responsibility of the persons involved.

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 .