Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 4:12:
Kupsabiny: “Therefore, go! I will help you when you are talking/speaking and I will show you what you are going to say.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “That being the case, go, I will help you speak and will teach you what you must say."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “So go, for I will-help you (sing.) speak and I will-teach you (sing.) what you (sing.) (are) to-say.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “Therefore go. I will help you with talk, and so teach you with what talk you [must] speak.’” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “Therefore, you go. I will help you speak. That which you will speak, I will show you it.»” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “So start going to Egypt, and I will help you to speak , and I will tell you what you should say.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 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.
Now therefore go is a command, spoken perhaps with some impatience. One may also express this idiomatically as “So, get going [or, moving].” I will be with your mouth is literal and may sound awkward; it means, as Good News Translation puts it, “I will help you to speak.” And teach you what you shall speak does not suggest special instruction in advance, but rather “I will tell you what to say” at the right time.
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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