complete verse (Leviticus 23:42)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 23:42:

  • Kupsabiny: “Every person of Israel shall stay/live in a shelter for seven days.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “For 7 days all the Israelites must live in shelters.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) are-to-celebrate this feast on the seventh month each year to cause/(give)-honor to the LORD. For seven days, [you (plur.)] live in roofed-shelters so-that your descendants will-know/(learn) that the LORD your God caused-/(made)- your ancestors -to-live in roofed-shelters when he led them/[lit. caused- them -to-go-out of Egipto]. You (plur.) and your (plur.) descendants must obey these regulations/[lit. what-is-to-be-followed] until generations to come.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “During the seven days of that festival, all of you people who have been Israelis your entire lives must live in shelters/huts.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 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).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Leviticus 23:42

You: the pronoun here is plural and refers to the whole community of Israel, and in meaning it is identical to all that are native in Israel. In many languages it will be advisable to clarify this identity by translating only once, “You Israelites” or “All the people of Israel” (Good News Translation). The same meaning is repeated in two slightly different forms in this verse. If the receptor language rejects such parallelism, it is quite possible to translate the meaning only once, as has been done in Good News Translation.

For seven days: in some languages it may be more natural to shift this to the beginning of the verse and say “During this week…” or something similar.

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 .