Canaan

The term that is transliterated as “Canaan” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the sign loosely referencing the act of hiding/covering one’s face in shame. The association of “shame” with the name “Canaan” comes from Genesis 9, specifically verse 9:25. This sign was adapted from a similar sign in Kenyan Sign Language (see here). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Canaan” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Canaan in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

complete verse (Numbers 33:51)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 33:51:

  • Kupsabiny: “‘Tell the people of Israel, ‘When you (plur.) have crossed the river of Jordan, you arrive in Canaan,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Tell the Israelites, ‘When you are about to cross over the Jordan river and arrive in the land of Canaan, ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘Tell the Israelinhon that when they will-cross-over the River Jordan going to Canaan,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Tell this to the Israeli people: When you cross the Jordan River and enter the Canaan region,” (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 Numbers 33:50 - 51

And the LORD said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho: For the quote frame the LORD said to Moses, see 1.1; for in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, see 22.1 and 26.3. To mark the back reference to this setting in verse 48, Good News Bible helpfully adds the adverb “There” and eliminates the conjunction And. Another possible model here is “While the Israelites were camped near the Jordan River on the steppes of Moab opposite Jericho, the LORD said to Moses” (similarly New Living Translation).

Say to the people of Israel: Good News Bible uses indirect speech here by rendering this clause and the previous one as “… the LORD gave Moses 51 the following instructions for Israel.” By doing this Good News Bible reduces the levels of direct speech from two to one, which may be more natural in some languages. Another model that does this is “… the LORD told Moses to say to the Israelites” (similarly Good News Bible at 35.9-10).

When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan refers to crossing over the Jordan River into the territory west of it. In some languages it will be more natural to say “When you cross the Jordan [River] and enter the land of Canaan” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy; similarly Contemporary English Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, TLA, Bijbel in Gewone Taal, Chewa). Good News Bible has this rendering in 35.10.

Verses 51b-54 form one long sentence in Hebrew, opening with the conditional statement When you pass over…. In many languages it will be necessary for both naturalness and clarity to break up this long sentence into separate imperative sentences for each of the points, as Good News Bible does in verses 52-54. (Compare also the negative counterpart in verses 55-56: “But if you do not drive out….”)

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 .