complete verse (Leviticus 22:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 22:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “or if he has touched an animal or a person that is unclean.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “one who has touched a crawling creature, one who has touched a person who was unclean in any way,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “None of any one/[lit. whoever] of you (plur.) can-eat the offering if he has a dangerous disease on the skin, or there-is (something) is-coming-out from his genitals/sexual-organ because of his disease, or he touched/grasped an object which is- dirty/unclean because this (object) has-touched/has-contacted the dead, or he has-had-an- emission/[lit. has-come-out] of semen, or he has-touched an animal or person who is- considered dirty/unclean. He can- only -eat the offerings if he has- already -bathed, but he is-to-wait until afternoon when the sun has- now -gone-down and then he may- now -eat the offerings which are his food as priest.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “or if he touches anything that crawls on the ground, or if he touches any person who causes him to be unfit for his work.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 22:5

A creeping thing: see 5.2 and 11.10, where the same word is translated “swarming things.” Although New Jerusalem Bible takes it in the more restricted sense of “reptile,” here it should be taken as referring more generally to any unclean animal (whether dead or alive), since it stands in contrast with man. And it should be noted that in this context man is used in the sense of any human being—not just the male of the species. This is why it has been translated “person” in Good News Translation and New International Version, and “human being” in New English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible.

Note also that Good News Translation has restructured this verse and eliminated needless repetition.

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 .