25You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean and between the unclean bird and the clean; you shall not bring abomination on yourselves by animal or by bird or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean.
The phrases that are translated as “clean animals” and “unclean animals” in English: The first draft into Maan had “animals not cursed” and “cursed animals,” which did not express correctly the idea of ritually pure and impure animals. So it was changed to “animals accepted by God for sacrifices” and “animals not accepted by God for sacrifices.”
In Kwere it is translated as animals “which are eaten” vs. “which are not eaten.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In Makonde is is translated as halali and halamu, derived from the Arabic halal (حلال) and haram (حرام), used for permitted and and forbidden animals in Islam. The Makonde speakers are 90% Muslim and this was chosen because these are widely understood terms and because many of the permitted (clean) foods of Judaism and Islam match. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 20:25:
Kupsabiny: “So, you must know/realize that there is a difference between animals and birds that are clean and those that are not clean. Do not defile yourselves by eating any animal or bird or anything else which is in the land which I have told you is not clean.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “’So distinguish carefully between [lit.: carefully recognize] clean and unclean birds and beasts. It is not OK to make yourselves unclean with beasts that creep on the ground, and with birds and beasts that I have called unclean. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) must know/(make-a-distinction-between) what (are) the clean and the dirty/unclean animals including birds. You (plur.) are- not -make- yourselves/[lit. your (plur.) own self] -dirty/unclean by-means-of eating dirty/unclean animals which I have-forbidden you (plur.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘o you must distinguish between birds and animals that are unacceptable to me and those that are acceptable to me. Do not defile yourselves by eating birds or animals, or anything that scurries across the ground, that I have said are unacceptable for you.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 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.
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).
Therefore: this indicates that what follows is the result of the fact that God had set apart the Israelites and made them different from other peoples. Similarly, they are to differentiate between the ritually clean and unclean animals.
Make a distinction: the same root word as in the previous verse, but in this context it is reasonable to translate it “make a clear separation” (New English Bible) or “separate” (Moffatt). Other languages may use some form of the verb “divide.”
The clean … and the unclean: see 10.10.
Make yourselves abominable: this may be translated as a causative form in certain languages: “cause yourselves to be unacceptable to God” or “make yourselves to be defiled.” The New American Bible rendering of this phrase is “be contaminated by….”
Anything with which the ground teems: the expression found here is very similar to the one used in 11.44 and apparently refers to the creeping or swarming things mentioned several times in chapter 11. New English Bible has “anything that creeps on the ground.” Translators are advised to avoid rendering the idea conveyed by Living Bible with “though the land teem with them,” as if this phrase qualifies the birds and animals already mentioned in this verse.
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 .
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