witness

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “witness” in English is translated in these ways:

  • “truly have seen” in Highland Popoluca
  • “telling the truth regarding something” in Eastern Highland Otomi
  • “know something” in Lalana Chinantec
  • “verily know something to be the truth” in San Mateo del Mar Huave
  • “we ourselves saw this” in Desano
  • “tell the truth about something” in Eastern Highland Otomi
  • “know something is true because of seeing it” in Teutila Cuicatec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • “ones who will confirm that these-things that you have seen are true” in Kankanaey (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • “ones who are to testify about these things, because it all happened before your eyes” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

complete verse (Deuteronomy 19:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 19:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “A person might go to a court and falsely accuse another person that he did a wrong.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “If an evil person gives witness and accuses a person of guilt, however” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If a witness will-lie in the court and will-reveal that a man has-sinned,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘If someone tries to do wrong to another person by falsely accusing him,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 19:16

Verses 16-19 deal with a case in which there is only one witness. This person is called a malicious witness, that is, a hostile witness, someone who violates the truth (the same phrase occurs in Exo 23.1; Psa 35.11).

Wrongdoing: the Hebrew word is used in 13.5 to mean apostasy (Revised Standard Version “rebellion against God”). It means the same thing in Isa 1.5; 31.6; Jer 28.16; 29.32 (its precise meaning in Isa 59.13 is in doubt). On the basis of the meaning of the word in these other passages, some commentators believe the charge here is not simply of wrongdoing in general but of apostasy in particular. The Septuagint here uses the word “ungodliness,” which means apostasy; and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has “accuse him of rebellion” (which, in the context, is rebellion against God, not against the king). The whole paragraph indicates clearly that the crime is punishable by death, and the false witness himself shall be put to death (verse 19). It is recommended that the word or expression for “apostasy” be used here (using the same expression used in 13.5), namely “rebellion against God.” So we may translate:

• If a person tries to harm another by falsely accusing that person of rebelling against God, ….

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 .