complete verse (Isaiah 29:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 29:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “And/Or when a person who does not know how to read is brought, he shall say, ‘I do not read.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Or suppose that [you] give the scroll of the book to someone who does not know how to read, [and] speaking like this, [you] ask [him] "Please read this," he will say, "I do not know how to read [lit.: to read letters does not come to me]."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And if you (sing.) cause- (it) -to-read to someone who do- not -know how to read, he will-say, ‘I do- not -know how to read.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When you give it to others who cannot read, they will say, ‘We cannot read it because we do not know how to read.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Japanese benefactives (yonde)

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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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

Here, yonde (読んで) or “read” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Isaiah 29:12

And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read”: The illustration of the sealed scroll continues here. If they give the book to an illiterate person to read, he will be unable to read it even if it is not sealed. When they give the book to one who cannot read is another conditional clause, which may be rendered “If they give the book to someone who cannot read” (similarly Good News Translation). An alternative model for I cannot read is “I don’t know how to read.”

The translation of this verse should closely parallel that of the previous one, for example:

• Or as though someone gave a book to a person who cannot read and said, “Read this,” but the person replies, “I am unable to read it.”

• And if it were given to people who cannot read and they were asked to read it, they would say, “We cannot read it.”

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .