brother (older brother)

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “brother” in English is translated in Kwere as sekulu and in Mandarin Chinese as gēgē (哥哥), both “older brother.”

Note that Kwere also uses lumbu — “older sibling” in some cases. (Source for Kwere: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Genesis 27:44)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 27:44:

  • Newari: “and stay there until your elder brother’s anger subsides.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (sing.) stay-for-a-while there until the anger of your older-sibling/(brother) subsides/[lit. becomes-lighter],” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Stay with him a while, until your older brother is no longer angry.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 27:44

Stay with him a while: a while is literally “some days,” a manner of speaking of an indefinite time. The length of time will be until your brother’s fury turns away. In some languages this thought is best expressed in figurative terms: for example, “until his heart becomes cool again,” “until his liver is no longer hot,” “until his innermost is calm again.” In other languages people naturally say “until he calms down” or “until he settles down.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .