complete verse (Leviticus 15:25)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 15:25:

  • Kupsabiny: “If blood goes from a woman for many days and it is not her days of the month, or the blood goes beyond her days of the month, that woman is unclean during all those days like the way it is for her during her days of the month.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “If any woman has bleeding besides her time of menstruation and if the blood continues beyond the normal period, she will be unclean, like when she is menstruating.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When a woman is-hemorrhaging/the going-out of blood for/[lit. inside of] several days which (are) not during her monthly-period or (it is) already finished, she is-to-be-considered dirty/unclean, just-like also if (she is-having) her monthly-period. She is-to-be-considered dirty/unclean while the blood continues-to-come-out from her.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Then a woman has a vaginal discharge of blood for many days/a long time, which is not her monthly flow of blood, or if her flow of blood continues after her monthly flow ends, no one should touch her until it stops.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 15:25

Not at the time of her impurity: a literal rendering of this phrase may be misleading. This becomes, in fact, a “time of impurity” for the woman, but it is at a time other than her regular menstrual period. Or, in a second hypothetical case, it may be the continuation of her regular period beyond the normal limits. Moffatt translates “a discharge lasting beyond the time of her period.”

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 .