grain

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “wheat”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).

Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “millet” (Lambya) (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), “food” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext) or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

complete verse (Leviticus 26:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 26:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “You shall eat your food (harvest) until it meets with the next year so that you shall throw out the old and then put in the new in the granary.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Even after you reap the new harvest you will [still] be eating the old harvest. And [to make room] for the new harvest it will be necessary to remove the old harvest and send it away.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Because your (plur.) crops will-be so abundant/plentiful, you (plur.) will- still -be eating your (plur.) previous crops until this will- yet -arrive/[lit. will- yet -catch-up-to] and will-be-replaced by a new crop again.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When you are still eating food from the harvest from the previous year, it will be necessary for you to throw away some of it to make space for the new harvest.” (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 26:10

This verse, like verse 5 above, concerns abundant harvest. A literal translation of the Hebrew text as seen in Revised Standard Version is difficult to understand. Good News Translation clarifies the meaning by introducing the verse with “Your harvests will be so plentiful that….” Compare verse 5 above.

You shall eat old store long kept: the idea here may also be translated “you will be able to live a very long time on the grain stored up from one harvest.” Taken literally this could indicate the eating of stale food, which is definitely not the intended meaning.

You shall clear out the old to make way for the new: following the proposal for the previous phrase, this one can be rendered “you will even have to get rid of (or, throw out) what is left in order to be able to store the grain from the new harvest.”

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 .