42The Lord said to me, ‘Say to them: “Do not go up, and do not fight, for I am not in the midst of you; otherwise you will be defeated by your enemies.” ’
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible as “friends of front,” i.e., the person standing opposite you in a battle. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
In North Alaskan Inupiatun it is translated with a term that implies that it’s not just someone who hates you, but one who wants to do you harm (Source: Robert Bascom), in Tarok as ukpa ìkum or “companion in war/fighting,” and in Ikwere as nye irno m or “person who hates me” (source for this and one above: Chuck and Karen Tessaro in this newsletter ).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 1:42:
Kupsabiny: “Then God said to me, ‘Tell those people not to go to that battle because I am not helping them. Their enemies will defeat them.’.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “At that time the LORD said to me, "Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight, for I will not be with you. Your enemies will defeat you.’"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘But the LORD said to me, ‘Tell them not to-go and fight, because I will- not -accompany/go-with them. They will-be-defeated by their enemies.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “But Yahweh said to me, ‘Tell them, ‘Do not go up there and attack those people, because I will not go with you. If you go, your enemies will defeat you.’’” (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).
And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up: there are three levels of direct discourse here; Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, and others reduce them to two, by using indirect discourse for the last one. It is possible to reduce the three to one: “And the LORD ordered me to tell them not to attack….” Translators must decide which makes for a more natural account in their language.
I am not in the midst of you: this may be translated “I will not be with you,” “I will not go with you.” If indirect discourse is used, the second plural “you” must be changed to “them”: “I will not be with them.”
Lest you be defeated before your enemies: this is unnatural language in English, and translators should say something like “or else you will be defeated by your enemies” or “otherwise your enemies will defeat you.” This is what will happen if they attack the enemy on their own; since Yahweh will not be with them, they will be defeated. For enemies see verse 39.
An alternative model restructuring this verse is:
• But the LORD said, ‘Do not go and fight. If you do, you will be defeated because I will not be with you.’
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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