LORD your God / Lord your God

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English as “Lord your God” or “Lord your God” is translated as “Lord our God” and “Lord our God” in Tzotzil as well as in many other Mayan languages if the speaker is included as one who calls the Lord their God. If the speaker said “your God” in Tzotzil, he or she would refer to the God of the people he or she addresses but would specifically exclude himself or herself. (Source: Robert Bascom in Omanson 2001, p. 254)

See also my God.

complete verse (Deuteronomy 3:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 3:18:

  • Kupsabiny: “I said then to those clans these words: ‘The Lord your God has given you the land of the East side of the river Jordan to be yours. So, take up your weapons and cross over the river Jordan to help your brothers.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “At that time I gave this command to the ones who would be living east of the Jordan. "The LORD your God has given you this land to possess. But all your soldiers, taking their weapons, must go ahead of their Israelite brothers.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘At that time I commanded your (plur.) tribes who live in the east of Jordan, ‘Even-though the LORD your (plur.) God gave this land so-that you (plur.) will-own/possess, all your (plur.) soldiers should cross-over also to River Jordan armed and will-lead your (plur.) fellow Israelinhon to fight.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “At that time, I told you three tribes, ‘Yahweh our God is giving you this land east of the Jordan River, for you to occupy/capture. So now, give your soldiers weapons, and send them across the Jordan River ahead of the men from the other Israeli tribes to help them to conquer/capture the land that has been allotted to them.” (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 3:18

I commanded you: as the context shows, Moses is speaking to the three tribes that settled east of the Jordan. Contemporary English Version makes this clear with “At the same time I told the men of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh.”

The LORD your God: again, if the second person plural your makes it appear that Yahweh is not the God of Moses, the inclusive form of the first person plural should be used, namely, “The LORD our [inclusive] God.” For a comment on LORD, or “Yahweh,” see 1.3.

This land: that is, the land east of the Jordan River (compare Good News Translation).

All your men of valor shall pass over armed before your brethren the people of Israel: the meaning is that the fighting men or soldiers of the three tribes east of the Jordan were to cross the Jordan River to the west side ahead of the fighting men from the other tribes and help them conquer the territory on the west side. When the conquest was completed, they were to return to their homes east of the Jordan. See Num 32.16-22. Armed suggests the act of “arming” them. Good News Translation has “Now arm your fighting men”; or we may say “Now give weapons to your soldiers.”

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 .