complete verse (Leviticus 20:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 20:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “And if people neglect to kill that person,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “If anyone has no concern for the did that they committed and does not kill them,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I will-go-against that person and you (plur.) are-to- not now/(any-longer) -consider him a member of-you (plur.). For by his offering of his child to Molek, he has-dirtied/has-made-unclean the place where I am worshiped/[lit. the place which place-where-worship-is-done to me] and he has-shamed my name. If you (plur.) just ignore that person,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “If the people of that man’s town ignore it when he kills one of his children to offer him as a sacrifice to Molech, and if they do not execute that person,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 20:4

And: the transition word should mark the contrast between the case where the people of God act to stop such false worship and the situation where they pretend to be unaware of it. So conjunctions like “But” (Good News Translation) or “However” are better than And. A number of versions omit the word altogether (New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).

People of the land: see verse 2.

Hide their eyes from that man: literally “closing, close their eyes.” This is the same kind of construction as used with the verb “to die” in verse 2. It serves to emphasize the pretended ignorance of the people of God in the face of this serious evil. It may be translated “pretend not to know what that man is doing,” or “close their eyes to what is happening,” or some other expression commonly used in the receptor language to indicate willful inaction in response to something that is clearly wrong.

Molech: see verses 2, 3, and 18.21. Since this whole expression is repeated several times in this chapter, it is possible to translate here “when he does this terrible thing,” or something similar, after the first few occurrences.

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 .