complete verse (Leviticus 11:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 11:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “But do not eat any animal that lives in water and does not have those things like wings and scales.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Animals that live in rivers or the ocean, that do not have fins and scales. They are detestable to you whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) may eat any/whatever animals are-living in the water which has fins and scales. But you (plur.) are- not -to-eat what does-not-have fins and scales, and you (plur.) are- not -to-touch their dead bodies. You (plur.) are-to-consider these animals detestable.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But you must detest and not eat those that do not have fins and scales. That includes ones that are very small.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 11:10

But: again it is necessary to mark the contrast between what may be eaten and what is forbidden (see verse 4).

The threefold repetition of in the waters in addition to in the seas or the rivers will certainly be too awkward to be included in most receptor languages. Good News Translation provides a good model for reducing the redundancy while retaining the meaning.

That has not fins and scales: presumably the prohibition would include sea creatures lacking either fins or scales. So in some languages it may be more appropriate to translate the conjunction and as “or.”

Swarming creatures … living creatures: the creatures that live in the water are divided into two groups: “swarming things” and “others.” The first term is used in 5.2 and 7.21, but the contexts in those two cases are different since the creatures do not necessarily live in water. The fundamental meaning seems to be “that which cannot be numbered,” either because of their small size or their great number. So it is used here to designate small sea creatures, but in verse 20 it refers to “insects,” and in verse 29 to “creepers” or small animals (such as rats, mice, moles, and lizards). The second term is used here to refer to larger sea creatures. New English Bible translates “small creatures in shoals and larger creatures,” while New Jerusalem Bible has “all the small water creatures and all the living things found there.”

An abomination: this corresponds to the statement in the above verses, “they are unclean to you,” but it is even stronger. The main component of meaning in this word is the idea of aversion or disgust. The unacceptable water creatures were to be held in contempt by the faithful Jew and were not to be touched. The Good News Translation translation “must not be eaten” is a bit weak. Translators may consider “should be strictly avoided” or “must be seen as disgusting.” New Jerusalem Bible says “you will regard as detestable,” while New American Bible has “are loathsome for you.”

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .