Low German translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006: “steppe”
Yakan: “the lonely place” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a land where no people lived” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “the place with no inhabitants” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Matumbi uses various term: lubele (desert, sandy place without water) — used in John 11:54, lupu’ngu’ti (a place where no people live, can be a scrub land, a forest, or a savanna) — used in Mark 1:3 et al.), and mwitu (a forest, a place where wild animals live) — used in Mark 1:13 et al.) (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Chichewa Contemporary translation (2002/2016): chipululu: a place uninhabited by people with thick forest and bush (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Note that in Luke 15:4, usually a term is used that denotes pastoral land, such as “eating/grazing-place” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Amos 2:10:
Kupsabiny: “I brought you out from the land of Egypt and led you by hand through the wilderness for forty years so that you could take for yourselves the land of the Amorites to become yours.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “To give you the land of the Amorites, I have brought you from the land of Egypt and for forty years I led you through the wilderness.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I also caused-to-come-out of Egipto the ancestors of those who-come-from-Israel, and for-a-period/[lit. inside] of 40 years I led them in the desert, so-that they could-take the land of the Amornon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, and then I led them through the desert for 40 years. And then I enabled them to conquer/possess the Amor area.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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.
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).
I brought you up out of the land of Egypt/I brought you out of Egypt. The word brought, which involves motion, will certainly require an indicator of direction in many languages (see discussion in Translating Amos, Section 3). Hebrew has up out. In order to determine what would be most appropriate in the language of the translation, the translator will need to think about the relationship of Egypt to Israel. In some cases it may also be useful to qualify Egypt as “land” or “country.”
And led you forty years in the wilderness/led you through the desert for forty years. “Did you go” is translated led, but the Hebrew in this particular context has two parts to its meaning: “guidance” and “care.” In some languages the second meaning can be made clearer by using a verb equivalent to English “accompany.”
The Hebrew word translated by desert does not indicate a sandy desert but rough uninhabited land with patches of grass which would provide a certain amount of pasture for animals. “Uninhabited” is the most important part of the meaning, and lack of vegetation is secondary. Most languages have specific words for an uninhabited area such as “grasslands,” “rocky region,” “place where no house is,” etc.
To possess the land of the Amorite/and gave you the land of the Amorites. This sentence can be translated “that you might seize/have the land of the Amorites” (see Smith-Goodspeed). On the other hand, this event takes place under the leadership of the Lord, as stated in verse 9. God is doing the action so the sentence can be translated as in Good News Translation.
Quoted with permission from de Waard, Jan & Smalley, William A. A Handbook on Amos. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1979. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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