complete verse (Exodus 13:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 13:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “You are today leaving this land of Egypt in this month of Abib.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Your departure day in the month of Abib this day you are to remember.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (plur.)] remember this day of the month of Abib — the day that you (plur.) were-brought-out of Egipto.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “You (pl.) left Isip today, in the month Abip.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “On this day, on month one, you are leaving.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “You are leaving Egypt on this day, which is the first day of the month that is named Abib.” (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 Exod 13:4

This day is the same day referred to in 12.14, 16, and 41, the actual day of departure and the first day of unleavened bread. You are to go forth uses the emphatic plural you with the plural participle, “you [are] the-ones-going-out.” This means “you are going out” (New Revised Standard Version), or “you are leaving” (New International Version), or even “Today … is the day of your exodus” (Revised English Bible).

In the month of Abib is literally “in the New-Moon of the Ripe-Grain,” and Fox translates it this way. It is the same month as in 12.2. Abib was the early name given to the month of the spring equinox, when the sun crosses the equator going north. It became the first month in the Hebrew calendar, but the name was later changed to Nisan. Even though Abib means “ripe grain,” it should be transliterated here rather than translated, unless in a particular culture the equivalent spring month or new moon has a similar name.

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 .