family / clan / house

The Hebrew terms that are translated as “family” or “clan” or “house” or similar in English are all translated in Kwere as ng’holo or “clan.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as “kin-group.”

See also tribe.

complete verse (Nehemiah 7:64)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Nehemiah 7:64:

  • Kupsabiny: “They searched for their family listing but did not find. So those people were prevented from working as priests.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Because they could not find the list of their ancestors, they were- not -accepted as priests.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They searched in the records that contained the names of people’s ancestors, but they could not find the names of those clans, so they were not allowed to have the rights and duties that priests have right away.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("do/reckon")

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, s-are-ru (される) or “do/reckon” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Nehemiah 7:63 - 7:64

See the discussion at Ezra 2.61-62. Only the name of Hobaiah is spelled differently in Ezra (“Habaiah”).

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .