complete verse (Deuteronomy 32:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 32:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “Oh you stupid people,
    don’t you know to obey God?
    Is he not your father who created you?
    Is he not the one who takes care of you?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “O you people who are fools and have no common sense,
    What! Is this the way
    that you repay the LORD?
    Is He not the one who created you,
    and the one who caused you to come into existence, your father,
    creator of your universe?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Is this what you (plur.) are going to repay the LORD?
    You are very foolish and lack of understanding.
    Is he not your (plur.) Father who created you (plur.)?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You foolish and senseless people,
    is this the way that you should repay Yahweh for all that he has done for you?/this is certainly not the way that you should repay Yahweh for all that he has done for you.
    He is your father; he created you ;
    he caused you to become a nation.” (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 32:6

Requite the LORD: the verb requite means to repay or to pay back; so Revised English Bible says “is this how you repay the LORD?” In a more general sense “how you treat the LORD” is a possibility (similarly Good News Translation).

Foolish and senseless: two terms almost the same in meaning; other possibilities are “stupid,” “dull,” “witless.” The sense of “ignorant” is not primary; it is not a lack of information but a lack of good judgment—even being stupid. So Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje has “a people without any good sense or wisdom.” The first two lines may be reversed as follows:

• You are foolish and stupid people,
Is this the way you repay the LORD?

The second question is also an accusation.

Your father, who created you: the verb created means to “bring into being,” to “give life.” It is different from the verb used in Gen 1.1, but it is the same verb used in Gen 4.1, where it is said to be the origin of the name “Cain” (see also Exo 15.16); so New Revised Standard Version has “the people whom you have acquired.” But if the equivalent of the verb “acquire” is used, care must be taken that it is not understood as a purchase, with a price paid to someone, as the New International Version footnote “who bought you” suggests. This Handbook recommends that translators use the word “create” or “Creator” in the text (with Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and New International Version), with a footnote saying, for example, “Or Father, who acquired you.”

Who made you and established you: the verb “make” is the one most generally used of making something; to “establish” means to make secure or strong. The text is talking about how God made the people of Israel into a nation, a people of his own; this happened when he brought them out of Egypt. So Good News Translation has “he made you into a nation.” Translators are advised to follow Good News Translation as a model for this verse.

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 .