complete verse (Leviticus 21:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 21:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “A priest must not shave his head or his beard/whiskers or cut marks in his body to show that he is in mourning.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “’When [a priest] is in mourning, Priest must not to shave his hair, must not cut your edges of beard, it is not OK [for him] to inflict wounds on his body. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If you (plur.) mourn the dead, you (plur.) are- not -to-shave/[lit. scrape] any parts of your (plur.) head or cut/trim your (plur.) beard, or cut/wound your (plur.) bodies.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You priests must not shave your heads or shave the edges of your beards or cut your bodies to show that you are mourning for someone who has died.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 21:5

They: the pronoun here refers to the priests. It may be wise to make this information more obvious in the receptor-language translation, as does Good News Translation.

Make tonsures upon their heads: this has nothing to do with natural baldness (as in chapter 13) but involves the intentional shaving of a part of the head to make a bald spot. This was done by some to mourn the dead. It is probably in error to say simply “shave their heads” as in New International Version, since this may give the impression that the entire head is necessarily shaved. The expression indicates rather the shaving of a part of the head to make one part of it bald.

Shave off the edges of their beards: see 19.27.

Cuttings in their flesh: see 15.7 and 19.28.

As in 19.27-28, these acts were performed as a sign of mourning for the dead. Good News Translation makes this implicit information explicit in translation by adding “to show that he is in mourning.” This should probably be done in most other languages, since the purpose of these actions would otherwise be impossible for the reader to know.

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 .