complete verse (Deuteronomy 29:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 29:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “You know how you lived in the land of Egypt and how you set off going through the countries of other communities.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “You know how we lived in Egypt, and how we passed through other countries in order to arrive here.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘You (plur.) know how we lived in Egipto before and how we (incl.) travel-through in the land of other nations going to this place.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘You remember the things that our ancestors suffered in Egypt, and how they traveled through the land that belonged to other nations after they came out of Egypt.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 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 Deuteronomy 29:16

In verses 16-17 Moses is the speaker again, and he gives a brief review of the situation of the Israelites as slaves in Egypt. This serves as an introduction to the long warning that follows (verses 18-28).

The translator will notice the switch from the first person plural we dwelt and we came to the second person plural you passed (verse 16) and you have seen (verse 17). Translators should study the Good News Translation to see one way to handle this problem. New International Version and others are also able to eliminate such inconsistencies.

We dwelt in the land of Egypt: according to the historical account in Deuteronomy, the adult generation that left Egypt had already died (see 2.14-15; 5.3), and it is the succeeding generation that is ready to enter the Promised Land. The verb translated dwelt is itself neutral, indicating neither prosperity nor hardship; but the modifying how was understood by the original readers of this account to indicate the condition of the Hebrews as slaves, in the latter part of their stay in Egypt; Good News Translation refers indirectly to this with “what life was like in Egypt.”

We came through the midst of the nations: as reported in chapters 1–3.

Through which you passed: this is as repetitive and illogical in Hebrew as it is in English. An alternative translation is “and [you know] what it was like to travel through the lands of other nations.”

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 .