complete verse (Leviticus 23:24)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 23:24:

  • Kupsabiny: “Tell the people of Israel that you must have a rest on the first day of the seventh month. On that day horns are to be blown to call the people to come for a meeting of prayer.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Say to the Israelites — ‘The first day of the seventh month is to be entirely a day for rest and recovery. Having blown the sheep horn trumpets on that day, all of you must gather, worship God. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “On the first day of the seventh month, [you (plur.)] rest as a remembrance to the LORD. When you (plur.) hear the sounding of the horns/trumpet, [you (plur.)] gather to worship him.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “to give these instructions/commands to the Israeli people: ‘Each year in September, on the day that I have chosen, you all must celebrate it by completely resting. You must not do any work on that day. When the priests blow their trumpets loudly, you all must gather together to worship me.” (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. )