widow

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “widow” in English is translated in West Kewa as ona wasa or “woman shadow” (source: Karl J. Franklin in Notes on Translation 70/1978, pp. 13ff.) and in Newari as “husband already died ones” or “ones who have no husband” (source: Newari Back Translation).

The etymological meaning of the Hebrew almanah (אַלְמָנָה) is likely “pain, ache,” the Greek chéra (χήρα) is likely “to leave behind,” “abandon,” and the English widow (as well as related terms in languages such as Dutch, German, Sanskrit, Welsh, or Persian) is “to separate,” “divide” (source: Wiktionary).

See also widows.

complete verse (Exodus 22:21)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 22:21:

  • Kupsabiny: “Don’t hate/persecute a foreigner. You (plur.) should know that you (plur.) were once foreigners in Egypt.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Do not mistreat a foreigner or oppress him, for you had been foreigner in Egypt.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘[You (plur.)] do- not -oppress the foreigners for you (plur.) (were) also foreigners at-that-time/long-ago in Egipto.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “‘If a man from another area is living in your midst, you (pl.) can’t/mustn’t do anything bad to him. Don’t deal harshly (lit. heavily) with him either, because before, you were people from another area who were living in Isip.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “Foreigner who come live amongst you, not (imp.) him evil do, because you before be foreigners in Egypt.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “You must not mistreat a foreigner who comes to live among you. Do not forget that you were previously foreigners in Egypt.” (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 22:21

This law has the categorical or apodictic form of the Ten Commandments, with two strong prohibitives and then a reason. You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him is literally “An alien you [singular] shall not mistreat and you shall not oppress him.” The two verbs mean about the same thing, but the first one implies violating a person’s rights, and the second one implies actual affliction. For stranger see the comment at 2.22. New Revised Standard Version has changed this to “resident alien.”

For you were strangers in the land of Egypt changes the singular you to plural, referring to all the Israelites. Some translations give this more emphasis, “you yourselves” (New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, Translator’s Old Testament). Good News Translation restructures: “Remember that you were foreigners in Egypt.”

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 .