36And their father Jacob said to them, “I am the one you have bereaved of children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has happened to me!”
The term that is transliterated as “Joseph” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that relates to a) the coat he wore (see Gen 37:3), b) the holding of his clothes by Potiphar’s wife (see Gen 39:12), and c) the many times Joseph experienced grief. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Joseph” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign that signifies “dream,” referring to Jacob’s dream at Bethel (see Genesis 28:10 and the following verses). (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Simeon” or “Simon” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “swords,” referring to the traditional Jewish symbol for the tribe. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
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)
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)
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Benjamin” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “wolf,” referring to Genesis 49:27. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 42:36:
Kankanaey: “Jacob said to them, ‘Surely you will gradually use-up my children. Jose is-no-more, Simeon also is-no-more, and here-now you want to run-off-with Benjamin also. I am the one just the same who is-being-hardshipped by that.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Newari: “Their father Jacob said — ‘You have already taken my sons Joseph and Simeon away. Are you now about to take Benjamin away? Does all this have to happen to me?'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Jacob said to them, ‘Do you (pl.) want that my children be-lost? Jose (is) no more, Simeon (is) no more and now you (pl.) also want to get Benjamin. I am-the-one suffering.'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Their father Jacob said to them, ‘You have caused two of my children to be taken from me! Joseph is dead, and Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin from me! It is I who am suffering because of all these things that are happening!'” (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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
You have bereaved me of my children: for bereaved see the case of Rebekah in 27.45. In this context the sense of bereaved is “taken away from me” or “made me lose.” Jacob refers to two of his children by name, so in some languages where small numbers must be expressed rather than a general plural, the translation is “made me lose two of my children.” Good News Translation, however, takes the verb as having a present sense and makes Jacob say “… you want to make me lose all my children”; similarly New Jerusalem Bible says “you are robbing me of my children.”
Although in Hebrew Jacob does not express himself by using a question form, Good News Translation apparently feels that a rhetorical question better brings out the emotion that the old man feels as he speaks. Translators in other languages may wish to consider this approach and to use idiomatic ways of speaking that are appropriate to this situation. One example of a translation of this part of the verse is “What [angry]? Do you want me to lose all my children? Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And now, do you want to take away Benjamin too?”
Joseph is no more: see verse 13.
All this has come upon me is literally “all these things are against me.” The Hebrew construction places the emphasis upon me in contrast to “you [plural].” As Driver says, “It is I, the father, who suffers, not you.” See Good News Translation.
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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