complete verse (Leviticus 25:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 25:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “But you are allowed in that year to eat the fruits from any plant of the bush (wild/uncultivated) together with your slaves, workers and foreigners who live among you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The grain that grows by itself in your fields that year will be food for you, [for] your servants and maid servants [for] workmen and [for] those who, having come from outside live in shelters at your place.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But you (plur.) are-allowed to-take this only to-eat with your (plur.) servants, your (plur.) workers, those (who are) not Israelites who live together-with/among you (plur.),” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But you are permitted to eat whatever crops grow by themselves during that year without having been planted. You and your male and female servants, and workers whom you have hired, and people who are living among you temporarily are permitted to eat it.” (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 25:6

For you, for yourself: this seems redundant in English because the second person singular and plural pronouns cannot be distinguished. But in Hebrew you is plural and refers to the people of Israel as a whole. The rest of the pronouns in this verse are singular and may indicate “each one of you, along with your slaves….”

Your male and female slaves: in some languages it may be more natural simply to say “your slaves” as in Good News Translation. This leaves implicit the fact that some of them may be men and others may be women.

Your hired servant and the sojourner …: these singular forms obviously do not imply that there would be only one servant and one foreigner. They are collective and may be translated as plurals. The term translated sojourner in Revised Standard Version is usually understood as “foreigner” as in Good News Translation, and New International Version has “temporary resident.” New Jerusalem Bible has “the hired and bound laborers,” but this is not recommended. Compare 22.10.

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 .