Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 15:29:
Kupsabiny: “Everyone must follow this law whether an Israelite or a foreigner.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Whether Israelites, whether people of other ethnic groups living with them, there is one law for all who do a wrong deed unintentionally.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Only one regulation for all who have-sinned which (is) not intentional, either native-born Israelinhon or non Israelinhon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “You Israelis and all the foreigners who live among you must obey these same instructions.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The Greek, Hebrew, and Ge’ez that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
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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).
You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly …: This verse concludes the paragraph dealing with unintentional offenses of individuals. It corresponds to verse 26 in the sense that it points out that the prescribed rituals apply to the resident aliens as well as the ethnic Israelites. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh renders the Hebrew word for law (torah) as “ritual,” as in verse 16 (see the comments there). For who does anything unwittingly, see verse 24.
For him who is native among the people of Israel: See verse 14 and 9.14.
And for the stranger who sojourns among them: See verse 14 and 9.14.
Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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