complete verse (Genesis 36:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 36:4:

  • Newari: “Adah gave birth to Eliphaz and Basemath [gave birth to] Reuel.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The child of Esau with Ada was Elifaz. His child with Basemat was Reuel.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Esau’s wife Adah gave birth to Eliphaz. Basemath gave birth to Reuel.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 36:4

Verses 4-5a list the names of the sons born to Esau’s three wives. In some translations verses 2-5a are restructured to place the names of the sons with the name of their mothers; this results in three paragraphs, each of which has the form, for example, “He married Adah who was … Adah had a son whose name was Eliphaz….”

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 .