striped / speckled / spotted

The Hebrew that is translated as “striped, speckled, and spotted” in English did not have an immediately accessible translation in Orma.

George Payton tells about how the translation team went about finding the right terms: “In Gen. 30 Jacob is living with uncle Laban taking care of Laban’s livestock. Then when Jacob complained about what his payment should be, Laban said that Jacob could keep all the livestock that were spotted, speckled or striped, but the solid colors white and black belonged to Laban. The trouble was how to translate ‘speckled, spotted, striped.’ The people we were translating for were herdsmen; they kept goats, sheep and cattle. They told me that they have one set of words for colors and patterns for describing the cattle, and a different set of vocabulary when talking about goats and sheep. I thought maybe we could tap into their rich ‘goat’ vocabulary and use some of their words in Genesis. So we went to a friend’s livestock to see the animals. I saw a pattern that was ‘strip-ish’ and asked what they called that pattern. Then I did the same for ‘spot-ish’ and ‘speckle-ish.’ Our goal was not to get an exact representation of the patterns mentioned in the Bible, but to give a general picture of some common patterns that people would know. So we used those terms in the translation and it read very well. When we tested it, no one asked what those words meant because everyone knew them.”

In Low German the different colors are swartbunt / “black pied” or swartbrun / “black-brown,” the traditional colorings of cattle in Northern Germany, where Low German is spoken (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1937, republ. 2006).

complete verse (Genesis 31:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 31:12:

  • Newari: “‘He said — ‘Look, all the goats that are mating are only spotted and striped. For I have seen all that Laban has done to you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “and he then said, ‘Look, all the male goats that are-mating with female goats are spotted. I have-done this because I have-seen everything that Laban is-doing to you (sing.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “He said to me, ‘Look up and you will see that all the male goats that are mating have black and white stripes on them, or are speckled or spotted. This is happening because I have seen all that Laban has done to you.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 31:12

Lift up your eyes is the command form of the same expression used in verse 10. See Good News Translation.

All the goats that leap upon the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled: see verse 10.

For I have seen all that Laban is doing to you: this statement suggests that God has arranged for the animals to breed in this fashion so that Jacob will receive the wages Laban has withheld from him. In this way Jacob’s trick in chapter 30, in which the striped branches are placed before the mating animals, is now explained as God’s intervention to make the trick work for Jacob.

In some languages it will be necessary to adjust the final sentence of verse 12 to show its relation to the rest of that verse. For example, we may need to say “I have caused them to mate that way because I have seen how Laban has cheated you.” Note Good News Translation “I am making this happen because….”

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 .