complete verse (Leviticus 26:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 26:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “I will make you chase away your enemies and kill them with swords to be destroyed before you and you shall defeat them completely.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “You will be able to drive out your enemies, killing them with the sword.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) will-be-able-attack/invade your (plur.) enemies and you (plur.) will-kill them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You will pursue your enemies and kill them with your swords:” (Source: Translation for Translators)

enemy / foe

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the Hausa Common 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 ).

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 26:7

You shall chase your enemies: that is, “You will be victorious over your enemies,” or “win a remarkable victory,” or “defeat the enemy convincingly.”

They shall fall before you by the sword: this is merely another image of victory in battle. However the focus here seems to be more on the death of the enemy. As in verse 6, the word sword is intended in the broader sense of offensive military activity. The phrase may be rendered “you will kill many of your enemies in war” or “your enemies will die in battle in your presence.” It is probably better not to shorten and combine the two expressions of this verse into a single statement, as has been done 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 .