Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 32:34:
Kupsabiny: “God is saying, ‘I know that these people have done, their words are in my treasury/store.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The LORD says, "Whatever their enemies have done I have remembered, and for the right time to punish them I have been waiting.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The LORD knows what they are-doing; he is- just -storing them and waiting for the right time to punish them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘Yahweh says, ‘I know what I have planned to do to the Israeli people and to their enemies, and those plans are so secure that it as though he locked them up.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
In verses 34-35 God is the speaker; then in verses 36-38 Moses is probably the speaker, although Yahweh often refers to himself in the third person, and it is possible that these verses are an instance of that. In many languages it will be good to introduce Yahweh as the speaker in this verse; for example, “The LORD says, ‘Don’t I….’ ” Notice, however, that Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version keep “the LORD” in the third person; that is also possible.
Is not this: that is, his plans to punish Israel’s enemies (verse 35) and vindicate his people (verse 36). So we may translate “Yahweh says, ‘What I have planned to do to the Israelites and their enemies, I am keeping….’ ”
Laid up in store … sealed up in my treasuries: this is a way of saying that God’s plan is safe and secure, and cannot be taken from him. Instead of a rhetorical question, a declaration may be better. So New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “Lo, I have it all put away, sealed up in my storehouses,” and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “All of this I am keeping for myself, I am guarding it as a treasure.” The emphasis is not on the worth of it but on Yahweh’s determination to keep all his plans strictly to himself, not sharing them with anyone. In this verse Good News Translation departs too far from the focus of the original.
A possible alternative translation model for this verse is:
• Yahweh says,
“What I have planned to do to the Israelites and their enemies
I am keeping for myself.
I am guarding it as I would a treasure.”
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 .
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