power / strength

The Hebrew that is typically translated in English as “power” or “might” or “force” is translated in the English translation by Goldingay (2018) as energy or energetic.

complete verse (Leviticus 26:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 26:20:

  • Kupsabiny: “You shall work hard in vain because your farms will never produce food.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Even though you do a lot of work, it will be in vain, for your fields will yield no grain. And even the trees will bear no fruit.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Your (plur.) hard-work will-be for nothing/of no value, for your (plur.) fields will- not -produce-crops and your (plur.) trees will- not -bear-fruit.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You will uselessly work very hard to plant seeds, because crops will not grow in the hard soil in your fields, and fruit will not grow on your trees.” (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 26:20

Your strength shall be spent in vain: a literal rendering of this phrase may be misleading in some languages. Another way of saying this is “No matter how hard you work, it will be for nothing…” or “You will wear yourselves out and become exhausted, but you efforts will be worthless.”

Yield its increase … their fruit: compare verse 4.

Of the land: some texts read “of the field,” but this is of minor significance in a dynamic-equivalent translation. Several versions, including Good News Translation, simply leave this detail implicit, since land has already been mentioned earlier in this same verse.

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 .