39And those of you who survive shall languish in the land of your enemies because of their iniquities; they shall also languish because of the iniquities of their ancestors.
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible as “friends of front,” i.e., the person standing opposite you in a battle. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
In North Alaskan Inupiatun it is translated with a term that implies that it’s not just someone who hates you, but one who wants to do you harm (Source: Robert Bascom), in Tarok as ukpa ìkum or “companion in war/fighting,” and in Ikwere as nye irno m or “person who hates me” (source for this and one above: Chuck and Karen Tessaro in this newsletter ).
In Cherokee it is either translated as “the one(s) who reprimand(s) you” or “the one(s) feared.” (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 47)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 26:39:
Kupsabiny: “The rest/remainder among you shall waste away in the countries of their enemies because of their sins and those of their forefathers.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Those of you who survive [lit.: remain], will rot away in the land of the enemy on account of their sins and those of their ancestors.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “And those of you (plur.) who are-left will-little-by-little die because of your (plur.) sins and the sins of your (plur.) ancestors.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “And those of you who remain alive will slowly die and rot in the countries of your enemies because of your sins and because of the sins of your ancestors.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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).
Pine away: this expression is used twice in this verse and indicates a gradual but sure deterioration. It may be rendered “decay,” “rot,” or “waste away.”
In your enemies’ lands: there is a minor textual problem here. Some texts have the singular “in an enemy land” (so New English Bible and Jerusalem Bible), but since the meaning is virtually the same, this should have no effect on the receptor-language translation.
Their fathers: that is, “your ancestors,” as in Good News Translation.
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 .
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