drink

In Telugu different verbs for humans drinking (tāgu / తాగు) and animals drinking (cēḍu / చేడు) are required.

shepherd

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “shepherd” in English is translated in Kouya as Bhlabhlɛɛ ‘yliyɔzʋnyɔ — ” tender of sheep.”

Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains:

“Then one day they tackled the thorny problem of ‘shepherd’. It was problematic because Kouyas don’t have herdsmen who stay with the sheep all the time. Sheep wander freely round the village and its outskirts, and often a young lad will be detailed to drive sheep to another feeding spot. So the usual Kouya expression meant a ‘driver of sheep’, which would miss the idea of a ‘nurturing’ shepherd. ‘A sheep nurturer’ was possible to say, but it was unnatural in most contexts. The group came up with Bhlabhlɛɛ ‘yliyɔzʋnyɔ which meant ‘a tender of sheep’, that is one who keeps an eye on the sheep to make sure they are all right. All, including the translators, agreed that this was a most satisfactory solution.”

Other translations include:

  • Chuj: “carer” (there was no single word for “shepherd”) (source: Ronald Ross)
  • Muna: “sheep guard” (dhagano dhumba) (there was no immediate lexical equivalent) (source: René van den Berg),
  • Mairasi: “people who took care of domesticated animals” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: “sheep worker” (kookendjeriyang-yakina) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Kwakum: “those-who-monitor-the-livestock” (source: Stacey Hare in this post )

See also I am the good shepherd, complete verse (Psalm 23:1), and sheep / lamb.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Shepherds in the Bible .

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Exod 2:19)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding Reuel.

complete verse (Exodus 2:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 2:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those girls replied to the father that, ‘A man of Egypt rescued us and drew some water for us for our flock.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then they said, An Egyptian saved us from the hands of the opposing shepherds. Then he drew water and watered the flock.’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They answered, ‘There-was an Egiptohanon who helped us (excl.) against the ones-who-watch-over the animals/livestock, and he even drew-water for us (excl.) and caused- our (excl.) animals/livestock -to-drink.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “And so they said, ‘A man of Isip helped us (excl.) and so the men weren’t able to drive us away. And that man filled up water also to give drink to our (incl.) sipsips and memes.’” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “They answered for him it «There was a Hebrew who helped us (excl.), who prevented shepherds other. He also bring for us (excl.) water for animal your.»” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “They replied, ‘A man from Egypt kept other shepherds from sending us away. He also got water for us from the well and gave water to the flock of sheep.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 2:19

An Egyptian, of course, refers to Moses, who was evidently still dressed as an Egyptian. The hand of the shepherds refers to their power, so it is more natural in English to say “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds” (Good News Translation). Other languages, however, may be able to keep the expression out of the hand of the shepherds with the same meaning of power. And even means that Moses did more than just rescue them from the shepherds; he even drew water for them and watered the flock. The Hebrew word for even gives emphasis to what follows, indicating that Jethro’s daughters were very impressed with what Moses had done for them. Another way to say this is “But he was even kind [or, helpful] enough to draw water….” This verse should be considered when translating verse 16. But see verse 17 for a comment on the idea of “rescue” and watered the flock.

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 .