Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 29:7:
Kupsabiny: “On the tenth day of this seventh month you are too meet in order to honor me. Fast (plur.) and do not work.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “’Again on the tenth day of that seventh month you must hold a Holy Assembly. On that day you must fast and you are not to do any work at all. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘On the tenth day of this seventh month, you (plur.) are-to-gather to worship the LORD. You (plur.) must fast and never work.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘Each year, on the tenth day of the seventh month, you must gather together to worship me. Do not eat any food or do any work on that day.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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).
Verses 7-11 deal with the offerings on the Day of Atonement and are largely parallel to Lev 23.26-32. Translators may begin a new paragraph here with a subheading (see the introductory comments on this section). Good News Translation‘s heading for these five verses is “The Offerings at the Day of Atonement.” Contemporary English Version has “The Sacrifices on the Great Day of Forgiveness.”
On the tenth day of this seventh month refers to the Day of Atonement (Lev 23.27), though that name is not mentioned here. For this seventh month, see verse 1.
You shall have a holy convocation: The Hebrew pronoun for you is plural, referring to the Israelites. For holy convocation, see 28.18.
And afflict yourselves is literally “and afflict [or, humiliate] your selves,” which is an idiom that indicates abstaining from food, that is, fasting (so noted by Ibn Ezra, the Jewish medieval commentator). This idiom occurs again in 30.14. Revised Standard Version‘s literal translation here could well be misleading. Better models are “eat no food” (Good News Translation), “you must go without food” (similarly New Living Translation), and “you must/shall fast” (La Bible de Jérusalem Nouvelle, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Luther, Willibrordvertaling). The Day of Atonement is the only festival for which this command is given.
You shall do no work: Chewa says “Do no work of any kind.” A stricter prohibition concerning work applies to the Day of Atonement, than to the other holy days on which only occupational labor is forbidden (so Plaut, page 1084). Translators should maintain this unique difference with the phrase “you shall do no laborious work” in 28.18, 25, 26; 29.1, 12, 35.
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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.