complete verse (Leviticus 8:33)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 8:33:

  • Kupsabiny: “Do not leave from that place near the entrance to the Tent of God until the seven days of your anointing are over.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “You must not go outside the Tent of Meeting for seven days — until your ordination sacrament is complete.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (plur.)] do- not -leave here within/[lit. inside of] seven days, until your (plur.) ordination will-be-completed.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The time for you to be set apart as priests will be seven days, so do not leave the entrance of the Sacred Tent for seven days.” (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 8:33

You shall not go out: this may also be phrased in a more positive way: “you must remain inside the Tent…,” or perhaps better, “you must remain near (or, at) the entrance of the Tent.”

For seven days: the number seven (see 4.6) represents totality and thus a complete setting apart to the service of God. It is also a kind of probation period to make sure that there are no obstacles to divine service. Such a period is a common feature in rituals required to remove uncleanness (compare 14.8; 15.13, 19, 28).

Ordination … ordain: see verse 28 and 7.37.

The structure of a more literal rendering like Revised Standard Version may be seen as awkward and repetitious in some languages. If this is the case, the restructuring of Good News Translation will be helpful.

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 .