making implicit plural form explicit (Genesis 31:22)

In many, if not most of the languages in the Philippines, proper nouns, such as personal names, are tagged with a marker that signals their grammatical role within a sentence. For Tagalog and the Visayan languages , this typically includes si to mark the proper noun as the actor or subject (nominative case), ni to mark the proper noun as an owner (genitive case), and kay to mark the proper noun as as an indirect object, i.e. the one to or toward whom an action is directed (dative case). All of these also have plural forms — sina, nina and kina respectively — and unlike in the biblical languages or in English, the plural form has to be used when only a single proper name is mentioned but implicitly that proper name includes more than just one.

In this verse, where English translates “Jacob (had fled),” the Tagalog translation translates “sina Jacob” because the context of the text makes clear that Jacob was not alone. (Source: Kermit Titrud and Steve Quakenbush)

Jacob

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Jacob” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “lentil,” referring to the soup he gave his brother in exchange for his birthright (see Genesis 25:34). Note that another Spanish Sign Language sign for Jacob also users the sign for Jewish. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Jacob” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In German Sign Language it is a sign that shows the touching of the hip, described in Genesis 32:25:


“Jacob” in German Sign Language (source: Taub und katholisch )

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the signs signifying “smooth arm” (referring to the story starting at Genesis 27:11). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Jacob” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Esau.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jacob .

complete verse (Genesis 31:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 31:22:

  • Newari: “Three days later Laban learned that Jacob had run away.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Three days had-passed when Laban found-out/[lit. knew] that Jacob and-company had-fled.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “On the third day after they left, someone told Laban that Jacob and his family had left.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 31:22

It was told Laban: this may be expressed in a number of ways; for example, “Laban was told,” “people told Laban,” “Laban heard the news,” or “Laban found out.”

When … on the third day: in terms of the story line, verse 22 is a shift in time, place, and character. Revised Standard Version translates close to the Hebrew form and makes verse 22 a time clause with a passive verb. Some translators may keep the time clause as in Revised Standard Version; in other cases it will be more natural to make verse 22 a complete sentence expressing the time aspect of the story. For example, we may say “Three days after Jacob had left, Laban found out,” “Jacob had only been gone three days when his uncle learned about it,” or “After Jacob had been gone for three days, people told Laban what had happened.”

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 .