neighbor

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” in English is rendered into Babatana as “different man,” i.e. someone who is not one of your relatives. (Source: David Clark)

In North Alaskan Inupiatun, it is rendered as “a person outside of your building,” in Tzeltal as “your back and side” (implying position of the dwellings), in Indonesian and in Tae’ as “your fellow-man,” in Toraja-Sa’dan it is “your fellow earth-dweller,” in Shona (translation of 1966) as “another person like you,” in Kekchí “younger-brother-older-brother” (a compound which means all one’s neighbors in a community) (sources: Bratcher / Nida and Reiling / Swellengrebel), in Mairasi “your people” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Mezquital Otomi as “fellow being,” in Tzeltal as “companion,” in Isthmus Zapotec as “another,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “all people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in most modern German translations as Mitmensch or “fellow human being” (lit. “with + human being”).

In Matt 19:19, Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Luke 10:29 it is translated into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that refers to a person who is socially/physically near. Ixcatlán Mazatec also has a another term for “neighbor” that means “fellow humans-outsiders” which was not chosen for these passages. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Noongar it is translated as moorta-boordak or “people nearby” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

complete verse (Deuteronomy 4:42)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 4:42:

  • Kupsabiny: “That was where a person was to flee to and hide if/when he has killed a person by mistake only and that person was not his enemy. A person like that is able to flee to any city among those three to stay alive.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “If any person kills any other person unawares [lit.: without knowing] [or] without planning [to do so], that person can protect himself by escaping to one among those cities.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “so-that a man who had-killed his fellowman unintentionally and he did- not -plan (it) could-flee there. He can-flee to one of these towns so-that he will- not -be-harmed.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “If someone accidentally killed another person, a person who had not been his enemy previously, he could escape to one of those cities. He would be safe/protected in one of those cities because the people there would protect him.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 4:42

That the manslayer might flee there who kills his neighbor unintentionally: the meaning of the text is clear and should be expressed naturally: “so that anyone who accidentally kills another person can flee there and be safe [or, find safety].”

Another qualification is added, without being at enmity with him in the past, to make quite clear that this law has nothing to do with premeditated murder. New International Version uses standard legal language: “unintentionally … without malice aforethought.” Good News Translation is simpler with “accidentally killed someone who had not been his enemy.”

By fleeing to one of these cities he might save his life: the underlying assumption is that a member of the dead person’s family would seek to kill the man, even though the killing had been accidental. In the city of refuge he would be safe. A fuller treatment is given in 19.1-13.

An alternative translation model for languages that do not have the passive voice is the following:

• He could escape to any of these towns and they [unknown agents] cannot execute him.

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 .