sell

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sell” in English is translated in Noongar as wort-bangal or “away-barter.” Note that “buy” is translated as bangal-barranga or “get-barter.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)

See also buy and buying / selling.

complete verse (Leviticus 25:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 25:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “If those years are many, the buying (price) may go high, but if the years are few, the buying (price) is also down. It is like that, because what one needs to look at here is the amount of years one can eat from the field.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The more the years that remain, the higher the price of the field will be, and also the fewer the years that remain, the lower the price will be. For it is the number of harvests from the field that are being sold.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If (there are) still many years before the Year of Setting-Free and Returning arrives, you (plur.) are-to-cause- the price of the land -to-be-high, but if (there are) now only a few, you (plur.) are-to-cause-(it)-to-be-low. For the truth (is), what is-bought (is) not the land itself but-instead the number of crops on the land.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “If there will be many years before the next Year of Celebration, the price will be higher; if there will be only a few years until the next Year of Celebration, the price will be lower. You could say that what he is really selling you is the number of crops which you can harvest before the next Year of Celebration.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 25:16

As in the previous verse, the structure is somewhat complicated and should be simplified in translation. One possible model is “The more time (or, years) remaining (until the Year of Restoration), the greater the price; the less time remaining, the smaller the price, because what you are buying is the crops that the land will produce” (compare New English Bible).

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 .