Honorary "rare" construct denoting God (“intending to give possession”)

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, shoyūsaseyōtoshiteo-rare-ru (所有させようとしておられる) or “intending to give possession” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 25:19

When the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies round about: see 3.20; 12.9.

The land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess: for this oft-repeated statement see 3.18; 7.1. Here is one of the few passages where the two Hebrew words for “inherit” and “inheritance” are used (see the double use also in 15.4).

Blot out the remembrance of Amalek: see 9.14; 25.6. The meaning here is that the Amalekites are to be destroyed so completely that they will no longer be remembered. 1 Chr 4.43 tells of the destruction of the last surviving Amalekites by King Hezekiah of Judah (ruled 716–657 B.C.). Good News Translation has “be sure to kill all the Amalekites, so that no one will remember them any longer,” or “… so completely that no one will remember they ever lived” (Contemporary English Version).

From under heaven: this is simply a way of saying “in the whole world.”

You shall not forget: this is more in the nature of a command than a statement. We may say “Do not forget!” (Good News Translation) or “Remember this!”

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 .