family / clan / house

The Hebrew terms that are translated as “family” or “clan” or “house” or similar in English are all translated in Kwere as ng’holo or “clan.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as “kin-group.”

See also tribe.

complete verse (Leviticus 25:45)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 25:45:

  • Kupsabiny: “You are also allowed to buy slaves from visitors who stay with you or foreigners who were born in your country.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “You can keep male and female slaves who have come from outside the country to live at your place. And you can also buy their children that are born in your land and keep them as your possession.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) may also buy the ones (who are) not Israelinhon who are-living with you (plur.) or the members of their household who are-born in your (plur.) place. The slave that you (plur.) have-bought from them, will-become your (plur.) property,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You are also permitted to buy some of the foreigners who are living among you, and members of their clans that were born in your country. Then you will own them.” (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. )

Translation commentary on Leviticus 25:45

This verse provides two additional details with regard to the foreign slaves mentioned in the previous verse. To speak of “the nations that are round about you” (verse 44) seems to exclude foreigners living within the land of Israel. But the words of this verse, among the strangers who sojourn with you …, clearly indicate that they may also be taken as slaves. And to avoid the impression that this concerned only newly-arrived foreigners, the writer also adds and their families … who have been born in your land.

There are therefore three categories of foreigners who could become slaves in Israel:
1. Those living in the surrounding countries (verse 44).
2. Those who personally immigrated into the land of Israel (verse 45a).
3. Those whose ancestors had earlier immigrated into Israel (verse 45b).

Buy: the Revised Standard Version rendering does not provide an object for this verb, but it may be understood to be “slaves.” Good News Translation omits the preposition from and takes the object to be “the children of the foreigners” (leaving “as slaves” implicit here).

From among the strangers who sojourn with you: literally “from the sons of the foreigners.” This may be understood in its more literal sense, “the children of the foreigners” (Good News Translation, New English Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible), but it is also possible that “sons of” in this case merely means “members of a group” (compare 1.5 and 1.14). The emphasis is not necessarily on the age of these foreigners born in the land.

They may be your property: this phrase emphasizes the difference between the foreigner who becomes a slave, and a fellow Israelite who is required by difficult circumstances to work for a time for his countryman. An Israelite is never really the property of his fellow Israelite.

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 .