complete verse (Numbers 35:29)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 35:29:

  • Kupsabiny: “These words shall be rules/laws that you shall follow through all your age-sets wherever you shall be staying.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “’This will be a law for you and for all the generations after you, no matter where you live. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘These are the regulations that you (plur.) should observe forever/[lit. until whenever], wherever you (plur.) live.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘You must always obey those regulations, wherever you live.” (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 Numbers 35:29

And these things shall be for a statue and ordinance to you … is literally “And these shall be for you [plural] into a statute of judgment….” Good News Translation begins with “These rules apply to you…,” which will be a helpful model for some languages. These things can refer both to the rules that precede and to those that follow, so it is also helpful to remove the conjunction And and set off verse 29 as a separate paragraph (so New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, La Biblia: Traducción en Lenguaje Actual, Bijbel in Gewone Taal, Contemporary Russian Version). If these things refers to what precedes, it refers to all the preceding rules, starting in verse 10 (so Knierim and Coats, page 327). If, on the other hand, these things refers to what follows, it refers to verses 30-34. For the Hebrew words rendered statute (chuqqah) and ordinance (mishpat), see 27.11.

Throughout your generations in all your dwellings: In some languages throughout your generations (see 18.23) may be rendered “throughout the generations to come” (New International Version), “from generation to generation” (New Living Translation), or “which will pass from parents to children” (SPCL).

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 .