complete verse (Deuteronomy 4:28)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 4:28:

  • Kupsabiny: “Do not in that place go and worship idols that are stones and trees that people shape so as to worship (them). Those things cannot see and do not hear anything. They do not eat and are unable to smell anything.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “There you will worship gods of wood and stone made by human hands that are not able to see, not able to hear, not able to eat, [and] not able to smell.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And there you (plur.) will-worship gods which are made by man from wood and stone, which can- not -see, hear, eat, or smell.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When you are in those nations, you will worship gods that are made of wood and stone, gods made by humans, gods that cannot see anything or hear anything or eat anything or smell anything.” (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 4:28

In those foreign countries, where they will live as exiles, the Israelites will worship pagan gods, lifeless idols. There is no hint in the text that their conquerors will force them to do this, it is rather that on their own they will eventually worship the pagan deities.

Serve: that is, worship (see verse 19).

The gods of wood and stone are man-made idols, the work of men’s hands; therefore they cannot see, hear, eat, or smell (see Psa 115.4-6; 135.15-17). In some languages this first sentence will be expressed as “There you will worship idols made of wood and stone that represent gods…” or “… likenesses of gods that they have made out of wood….” See the comments on “graven image” in 4.16.

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 .