17I declare that I will bring you up out of the misery of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.’
The phrase that is rendered in English versions as “land flowing with milk and honey” (“milk and syrup” in Goldingay [2018]) is translated into Afar as niqmatak tan baaxoy buqre kee lacah meqehiyya: “a blessed land good for fields and cattle.” (Source: Loren Bliese)
In the interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) it is translated with the existing proverb dziko lamwanaalirenji or “a land of what (type of food) can the child cry for?” (i.e. there is more than enough to eat). (Source: Ernst Wendland in The Bible Translator 1981, p. 107 )
In Kwere it is “good/fertile land.” (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew word for “honey”, devash, is also used for syrup extracted from figs, dates, and grapes, or from certain types of palm tree. The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey” refers to a land that is fertile and thus rich in pasture, fruit, and the grain and flowers from which bees make honey. (Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators) )
In Russian, the phrase молоко и мед (moloko i med) or “milk and honey” is widely used as an idiom in every-day life. (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 67)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 3:17:
Kupsabiny: “It has reached the point where I have thought/decided to migrate you taking you out of this suffering in Egypt. I will take/bring you to a land of milk and honey where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites live.’ ’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “And I have decided to rescue you from the Egyptians and take you to the country of Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites where milk and honey flow.’’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I promise to-cause- you (plur.) -to-come-out from Egipto where you (plur.) are-suffering, and to-bring/take you (plur.) to the land of Canaanhon, Hithanon, Amornon, Periznon, Hivhanon, and Jebusnon — the good and fruitful land.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “And I promise to save you from the bad experiences at the hands of the Isip people. And so I will bring you so that you go to the land of the Kenan people and the It and the Amor and the Peres and the Ivi and the Iebus. This land is good and has rich [soil] and so honey and bulmakao’s milk is coming forth in it.’” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “now I swear that I will take away you out from poverty your in Egypt, I will take you to land of Canaanites, and Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites. That place, be place which honey and milk runs there.» › »” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “I promise that I will rescue you from being oppressed in Egypt, and I will take you to the land where the descendants of Canaan, Heth, Amor, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus live. It is a land good for raising livestock and growing crops.’’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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).
I promise is literally “I say,” but understood in context it may mean “I have decided” (Good News Translation). New English Bible has “I am resolved.” I will bring you up is the same word used in 3.8, suggesting movement either from a lower to a higher level or from south to north. (See the comment there.)
The affliction of Egypt refers to the affliction of the Israelites in Egypt. It is better expressed as “your misery in Egypt” (New English Bible). Good News Translation‘s adjustment to indirect speech becomes “out of Egypt, where they are being treated cruelly.” In some languages it will be more natural to say “from the place where the Egyptians are treating them cruelly.” To the land of the Canaanites, … repeats the list of the six ethnic groups mentioned in 3.8. (See the suggested translation of these names in that verse.) A land flowing with milk and honey means “a rich and fertile land.” (Compare 3.8 and the comment.)
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 .
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