2And all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding Moses.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 14:2:
Kupsabiny: “They quarreled with Moses and Aaron saying, ‘It would have been better for us to die in Egypt instead of coming to die here in this wilderness.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “All the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron. whole community said them, "It would have been good if we had died in Egypt or in this wilderness.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The complained to Moises and to Aaron. They said, ‘It is better we (incl.) have- just -died in Egipto or here in the desert.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The next day they all complained to Aaron and Moses/me. All the men said, ‘We wish that we had died in Egypt, or in this desert!” (Source: Translation for Translators)
And all the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron: As A Handbook on Numbers mentions at Exo 15.24, the expressive Hebrew verb rendered murmured occurs several times in Exodus and Numbers. It describes the rebellious complaining of the people throughout their wilderness wandering. It is voiced against God or his representatives, so it always has a negative connotation (the people are not complaining for a justifiable reason). Most English translations render it “complained” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) or “grumbled” (New International Version, TNIV). This “murmuring motif,” as it has been called, shows how much difficulty Moses had in building a relationship with the people during this entire period. Translators should attempt to render this verb consistently where it occurs in Exodus and Numbers.
The whole congregation said to them: This clause introduces the actual complaint of the people, emphasizing that they were all involved. The Hebrew word for whole is the same one rendered all. For congregation see the previous verse.
Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!: These wishes render two chiastic parallel clauses in Hebrew, which is literally “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only in this wilderness we had died!” (similarly Alter). If such a double wish for death is awkward in the target language, then the combined rendering in Good News Translation may be considered. Many languages will have a particular wish formula or another way of expressing this strong desire of the people. For the Hebrew word rendered wilderness (midbar), see 1.1.
Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.