complete verse (Leviticus 25:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 25:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “If you (sing.) sell land to a fellow citizen or if you buy land from him you must not use corruption.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “When you do buy and sell a field with your neighbors, do not cheat one another.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So if you (plur.) sell or buy land from your (plur.) countrymen, [you (plur.)] do- not -cheat-each-other.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘If you sell some of your land to a fellow Israeli or if you buy some land from one of them, you must treat that person fairly:” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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. )

Translation commentary on Leviticus 25:14

Sell: literally “sell a sale,” where the noun and the verb have the same root (compare 19.17). The expression simply means “sell something,” but in this context it is clearly land that is involved.

Neighbor: meaning “fellow Israelite” in this context. See 6.2.

You shall not wrong one another: the verb used here has the idea of exploitation (see 19.33). In this context it may be translated “take advantage of” or “deal unfairly with” (Good News Translation). The prohibition applies to both parties, and this should be brought out in the translation. An American Translation has “you must not cheat each other.” And New English Bible translates “neither party shall drive a hard bargain.”

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 .