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)

complete verse (Genesis 37:30)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 37:30:

  • Kankanaey: “Then he went and joined his siblings and he said, ‘Our younger-sibling is nowhere (defensive particle)! What then will I do?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “He went to his younger brothers and said — ‘The child is not there any more, what shall I do?'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then he returned to his siblings and said, ‘Our (incl.) younger-one is-not-there anymore. How can- I now -go-home there to father?'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “He went back to his younger brothers and said, ‘The boy is not in the pit/cistern! What can I do now?'” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 37:30

And returned to his brothers: it is clear from this verse and the previous verse that the brothers had moved on before Reuben arrived at the pit. Now returned describes Reuben’s change of location from the empty pit to where his brothers were.

The lad is gone: according to verse 2 Joseph was seventeen years old. Therefore the term used for lad should be appropriate for a youth of that age.

And I, where shall I go?: Reuben is thinking of himself in his role as eldest brother and responsible for Joseph in his father’s absence. As long as Joseph was held in the cistern, Reuben had some degree of control over his destiny, but with his disappearance Reuben feels helpless. Revised Standard Version‘s rendering is literal and does not mean that Reuben is asking where he can go; rather he is saying “What can I do?” “Who can help me?” “I don’t know what to do.”

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 .