complete verse (Numbers 14:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 14:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “Why did God bring us to a country where we are going to be killed? And our children and wives will become slaves. Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Why has the LORD brought us to this place to slaughter us with a sword? And to allow our women and children to be snatched away? going back to Egypt would be better!"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Why is it that the LORD will-take us to that land? For only we (incl.) will-die in war and be-taken-captive our wives and children? It is better if we (incl.) just go-back to Egipto.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Why is Yahweh bringing us to this land, where we men will be killed with swords? And our wives and children will be taken away to be slaves. Instead of going to Canaan. It would be better for us to return to Egypt!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“do/make”)

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, s-are-ru (される) or “do/make” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Numbers 14:3

Why does the LORD bring us into this land, to fall by the sword?: Good News Translation divides this rhetorical question into a question and a statement for naturalness. However, in Hebrew it is one question, so another possible model based on Good News Translation is “Why is the LORD taking us into that land, to be killed in battle?” Fall by the sword is a figurative expression for dying in battle. A sword was a large knife used as weapon for fighting. A short sword was about half a meter (1.5 feet) long, but swords could be as long as a meter (3 feet) or more. For those situations where swords are unknown, a term for a large knife, perhaps a bush knife or machete, may be used, or even a descriptive expression such as “large knife for war.” Such a knife should be at least half a meter long, not just a short dagger. The target language may also have a close functional equivalent for sword that can serve in this context and fit the biblical setting, for example, “spear” or “arrows” (or perhaps even a generic term such as “weapons”). The nonfigurative expression of Good News Translation is also possible.

Our wives and our little ones will become a prey: Instead of Our wives and our little ones, Good News Translation uses the natural English expression “our wives and children.” Translators should use the normal expression for “wives and children” in their language. The Hebrew word for prey refers to people being taken prisoner as a result of warfare. Revised English Bible translates prey as “spoils of war” and NET Bible says “plunder,” but these renderings seem to refer to non-human items captured in war. “Carried off as slaves” states the meaning of become a prey explicitly, while “captured” in Good News Translation may leave too much implicit.

Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?: As the following verse indicates, this is a rhetorical question, which may need to be marked in some way, for example, “Surely it would be better for us to return to Egypt, not so?”

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 .