brothers

“Brothers” has to be translated into Naro as “younger brothers and older brothers” (Tsáá qõea xu hẽé / naka tsáá kíí). All brothers are included this way, also because of the kind of plural that has been used. (Source: Gerrit van Steenbergen)

This also must be more clearly defined in Yucateco as older or younger (suku’un or Iits’in), but here there are both older and younger brothers. Yucateco does have a more general word for close relative, family member. (Source: Robert Bascom)

our body

The Hebrew that is translated as “(he is) our body” in English is translated in Bura-Pabir with the existing idiom as “(he is) our blood.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Gen 37:27)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

complete verse (Genesis 37:27)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 37:27:

  • Kankanaey: “How-about if we sell him (immediacy particle) to those descendants of Ismael so that we won’t kill-him, because he is emphatically of-course our younger-sibling who is the child of our father.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Rather, we will sell him into the hand of the Ishmaelites. [We] however, will not lift a hand [against] him. No matter what happens, he is our younger brother, our [own] flesh [and] blood.’ All of them listened to his proposal.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Perhaps (it is) yet better (if) we (incl.) sell him to those Ishmaelinhon. Let- us (incl.) not -kill him for he (is) our sibling.’ The siblings of Juda agreed with him.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So, instead of harming him, let’s sell him to these men who are descendants of Ishmael. Don’t forget, he is our own younger brother!’ So they all agreed to do that.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 37:27

Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites: Come may be rendered as in verse 20. In some languages it may be necessary to express the idea of selling Joseph as an alternative to killing him; for example, “Instead of killing him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders.”

Let not our hand be upon him: a similar idiom was used in verse 21, where it meant to rescue or save Joseph. Here the sense is “Let us not harm [injure or kill] him.”

For he is our brother, our own flesh: these statements affirm that Joseph is related to them as a close kinsman. For a similar expression see 29.14. In some languages it may be necessary to state the reason before the consequence; for example, “He is our brother, our close kin; so let’s not kill him. Instead let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders.”

His brothers heeded him: him refers to Judah, and it may be better to say “Judah’s brothers agreed to do what he said.” In some languages this is more natural in direct speech: “All his brothers said, ‘All right, we will do what you say.’ ”

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 .