complete verse (Leviticus 26:35)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 26:35:

  • Kupsabiny: “The land shall rest during all the days that it is deserted. That is the rest which the land should have gotten in all the years of rest that you lived in it.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “For since you did not give the fields their 7th year time of rest which you should have [given them], now the fields that are desolate will indeed get [their] rest.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “While you (plur.) are-being-taken-captive to the place of your (plur.) enemies and your (plur.) place is-ruined/destroyed, your (plur.) land will-be-caused-to-rest. For while you (plur.) were- still -living in your (plur.) land you (plur.) were- not -causing- this -to-rest even (during) the year for-causing- the land -to-rest. But now this will-be-caused-to-rest while your (plur.) place is- ruined/destroyed.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “All the time that your land is desolate, it will be able to rest, like you did not enable it to rest during all the years that you lived there.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 26:34 - 26:35

The expression the land shall enjoy its sabbaths is equivalent to the land shall rest, and enjoy its sabbaths later in verse 34 and it shall have rest in verse 35. This repetition has caused Good News Translation to combine the two verses and reduce the redundancy.

The rest which it had not in your sabbaths: this rather awkward expression emphasizes the fact that the rest years which the LORD required have not been properly observed by the people of Israel. The land will, however, be given adequate rest while the people of Israel are in exile elsewhere.

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 .