complete verse (Exodus 12:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 12:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “Do not leave any meat up to next day/morning. And/But when/if it is left until morning, burn it completely.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Before morning all the meat must be finished. If some is left, it must be burnt in the fire.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (plur.)] eat it completely, and if ever there-are leftovers in-the-morning, you (plur.) are-to-burn-(them).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “And you (pl.) can’t/mustn’t leave part [of it] so that it remains [until] morning. If part remains until morning, cook [it] with fire so that it completely burns and is finished.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “And you eat it on that night let it be finished, any part let it not remain. If there is that which will remain, you burn it in fire, let it not morning find.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “You must eat all the meat that evening; do not let any of the meat remain to be eaten the next morning. If any of the meat is left until the next morning, you must completely burn it.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 12:10

And you shall let none of it remain suggests that all parts of the roasted animal were to be eaten during the night. Until the morning means until daybreak. So one may translate “You should eat all of the meat before daybreak.” Anything that remains includes the bones and all other parts of the animal that could not be eaten. Until the morning is repeated, but it is not clear whether the burning should be before or after daybreak. Durham has “you shall burn before morning,” but most translations repeat the until, which is ambiguous. Good News Translation simply omits this second use of the phrase: “if any is left over, it must be burnt.” You shall burn is literally “you shall burn by fire.” Another way to express this final sentence is “When the sun rises you must burn every part of the animal that is left over.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• You should eat all of the meat before daybreak. But if any of the animal is left over when the sun rises, you must burn it.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .