Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 19:22:
Kankanaey: “But hurry (pl.), run, because I will not be-able-to-begin what I will do until you arrive.’ That is the reason that that town is named Zoar, because Lot said it was a small town.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Newari: “Go quickly. We will not do anything until you arrive there.’ (Later the name of this city was Zoar.)” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Okay, you (pl.) run there now, for I can- not -do what I will-do until you (pl.) have- not yet -been-able-to-reach there.’ That town was called Zoar because that town was small.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “But hurry! Run there, because I cannot destroy anything until you arrive there.’ People later called the name of the town Zoar which means ‘small’, because Lot said it was small.” (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.
Make haste, escape there: this translates the command form of two verbs. The command is addressed to Lot in the singular, but in translation it may have to be in the plural. This is the fifth and final use of the word escape. Good News Translation says “Hurry! Run!” Others say “Flee there quickly.”
For I can do nothing till you arrive there: the angel urges Lot to hurry, because the destruction cannot begin until Lot reaches safety in Zoar. I can do nothing may need to be rendered more concretely “I can’t destroy the other cities until….”
Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar: this statement explains the origin of the name of the town of Zoar. However, verses 21 and 22a separate the name Zoar in this verse from the wordplay in verse 20. Therefore Good News Translation has reintroduced the word “small” by saying “Because Lot called it small….” Translators are advised to do something similar. Some translations place verse 22b in parentheses to show it is not part of the story line.
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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