complete verse (Joshua 8:34)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 8:34:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then, Joshua read all the words of the law. He read those about blessing and those which were about (the/a) curse in accordance with all the words that were written in the book of the law of Moses.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “After that Joshua read all the words of the law, the blessings and curses, exactly as the book had been written, not changing a single stitch.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then Josue read the Book of the Law, as-well-as the blessing and the cursing written there/[lit. here].” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then Joshua read to the people all that Moses had written previously. That included what Yahweh had taught them and the ways that he promised to bless them if they obeyed his commands, or to curse them if they disobeyed them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

teaching / law (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-oshie (みおしえ) or “teaching (of God)” in the referenced verses.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also law.

Translation commentary on Joshua 8:34

Joshua then reads the whole Law, including the blessings and the curses. It is important to translate read aloud, as with Good News Translation, to make clear that an oral reading to the people is indicated. Revised Standard Version (“And afterward he read all the words of the law”) does not require that the reading be oral, though “before all the assembly” of the following verse does clarify the situation. Another translation may still be clearer: “Then Joshua read (aloud) the whole Law to all the people.”

As elsewhere in this book, the Law is probably part if not all of what is now the book of Deuteronomy. It is, of course, not possible to make this identity in translation. Nor would a comment of this nature be appropriate in Bible Society publications.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .