complete verse (Deuteronomy 32:46)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 32:46:

  • Kupsabiny: “he said to those people, ‘Fix all the words that I have shown you today in your heads. Also show these words to your children so that they can follow all the words of these laws well.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “he said to them ‘Keep in your hearts the commands that I have given you today, thinking that you must give all these words of instructions to your children that they may be able to obey them carefully.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “he said to the people, ‘You (plur.) certainly lay/[lit. plant] to your (plur.) hearts all that I have-spoken to you (plur.) today. You (plur.) teach them also to your (plur.) children so-that they will-obey carefully all that has-been said in these commands.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Moses/I said, ‘Never forget all these commands that I have been giving you today. Teach these laws to your children, in order that they will faithfully obey all of them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

teaching / law (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-oshie (みおしえ) or “teaching (of God)” in the referenced verses.

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

See also law.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 32:45-46

Had finished speaking all these words to all Israel: see 31.36; 32.44.

Lay to heart: that is, “cherish,” “memorize,” “remember,” “meditate on.” Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje has “Think seriously,” and Contemporary English Version has “Always remember.”

All the words which I enjoin upon you this day: it is difficult to say whether all the words here means the words of the song that Moses has just recited, or some or all of the earlier part of the book of Deuteronomy. To enjoin means to direct, order, command; it is more than to advise or recommend.

In keeping with the parallel passages 4.26; 30.19; 31.28, New Revised Standard Version translates “Take to heart all the words that I am giving in witness against you this day” (see Revised English Bible “all the warnings”). It is recommended that translators follow this interpretation of the text; otherwise they should feel free to follow the Good News Translation translation, “Be sure to obey all these commands that I have given you today.”

You may command them to your children: see 4.9.

That they may be careful to do all the words of this law: this means all the teachings in the book of Deuteronomy (see this law in 1.5); so Contemporary English Version has “everything written in The Book of God’s Law.”

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 .