complete verse (Numbers 33:53)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 33:53:

  • Kupsabiny: “Take that country and live (there) because I have given (it) to you to become yours.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “You are to conquer that land and live there, for I have given that land to you to possess.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) will-own/possess that particular land and there you (plur.) will-live, for I give it to you (plur.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Take their land from them and start to live there, because I have given their land to you for you to own.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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).

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

Translation commentary on Numbers 33:53

And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it: The Hebrew verb rendered take possession (yarash) is the same one translated “drive out” in the previous verse, but in English it must be translated differently due to the different objects involved—“dispossessing people” in verse 52 and “taking possession of land” here. It may be possible in some languages to duplicate this significant verbal correspondence. By repeating this verb the LORD emphasizes that he has given the land to them as a gift.

For I have given the land to you to possess it: See 20.12. The Hebrew construction here emphasizes the pronoun for you by placing it at the beginning of this clause, which is literally “for to you have I given the land to possess it” (similarly Bijbel: Vertaling in opdracht van het Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap, Luther). Traduction œcuménique de la Bible makes this emphasis quite explicit by saying “for it is to you [people] that I have given this land for you to possess” (the word “people” may be needed in some languages to bring out the emphasis of the original). Bible en français courant also keeps the original emphasis by translating “because I have given it to you, it belongs to you.”

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 .