The Hebrew that is translated as “vagabond,” “fugitive,” or “wanderer” in English is translated in Western Lawa as one who has “no house to live in and no granary to eat out of.”
complete verse (Genesis 4:14)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 4:14:
- Kankanaey: “Here-you-go (particle of mild displeasure/surprise) removing me from the soil and I will also be separated from you (sing.). Neither will I have any real home-land/town, but rather I will keep-wandering-around continually on this earth. If moreover someone meets me, they will-kill-me.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Newari: “Please look, today you have driven me out from this earth. I will have to be hidden from you. And [I] will have to live without a fixed residence. And anyone will be allowed to kill me.'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “You now drive- me -out from this land and from your presence. I no-longer have a permanent place-of-dwelling, so I will- now just anywhere -go. And if anyone finds/[lit. see] me surely he/she will-kill me.'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- English: “You are about to expel me from the ground that I have been cultivating, and I will no longer be able to come into your presence/and talk with you. Furthermore, I will be continually wandering around the earth with no place to live permanently, and anyone who sees me will kill me.'” (Source: Translation for Translators)
addressing God
Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed. The first example is from a language where God is always addressed distinctly formal whereas the second is one where the opposite choice was made.
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Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff.), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
In these verses, in which humans address God, the informal, familiar pronoun is used that communicates closeness.
Voinov notes that “in the Tuvan Bible, God is only addressed with the informal pronoun. No exceptions. An interesting thing about this is that I’ve heard new Tuvan believers praying with the formal form to God until they are corrected by other Christians who tell them that God is close to us so we should address him with the informal pronoun. As a result, the informal pronoun is the only one that is used in praying to God among the Tuvan church.”
In Gbaya, “a superior, whether father, uncle, or older brother, mother, aunt, or older sister, president, governor, or chief, is never addressed in the singular unless the speaker intends a deliberate insult. When addressing the superior face to face, the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́ or ‘you (pl.)’ is used, similar to the French usage of vous.
Accordingly, the translators of the current version of the Gbaya Bible chose to use the plural ɛ́nɛ́ to address God. There are a few exceptions. In Psalms 86:8, 97:9, and 138:1, God is addressed alongside other “gods,” and here the third person pronoun o is used to avoid confusion about who is being addressed. In several New Testament passages (Matthew 21:23, 26:68, 27:40, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2, 23:37, as well as in Jesus’ interaction with Pilate and Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well) the less courteous form for Jesus is used to indicate ignorance of his position or mocking (source Philip Noss).
In Dutch and Western Frisian translations, however, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.
Translation commentary on Gen 4:14
This verse is a lament or complaint. Cain directs his complaint against God, a complaint about the punishment imposed on him, and against his potential enemy. Translators should try to use whatever features their own language has to bring a complaining or whining tone into their rendering of Cain’s words. Behold is the same term as used in 3.22, but in this context it is one of the features that mark the words that follow as a lament. One recent translation has focused on this feature and used an equivalent local expression “You look!” to make Cain’s words easy for all readers to recognize as a complaint.
Thou hast driven me this day …: driven translates a verb meaning “to send away, banish, expel” and is the same verb used in 3.24, “drove out.” This day refers to the time when Cain is lamenting; that is, “today.” Good News Translation “you are driving me…” makes the action present time, and so “today” can be omitted. Away from the ground refers back to the words of the curse in verse 11, “cursed from the ground.” See verse 11 for comments. In translation this expression should point clearly to the land that is worked to produce food. In English “off the land” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible) expresses this well. We may also say, for example, “away from the fields [or, gardens] where we grow food” or “away from being a farmer.”
And from thy face I shall be hidden: face [of God] is an idiomatic expression meaning “from God’s presence” or “from the place where God is.” Some scholars have argued that Cain refers here to the home of the Kenite tribe, and that the ground refers to the land of Canaan. However, this view presupposes that the narrative is set in Canaan when the people of Israel are settled there. This is very unlikely.
Some interpreters understand that face [of God] in from thy face I shall be hidden refers to God’s anger; but in the context of a lament, it is more likely that Cain is complaining that he will be cut off from God’s blessing and kindness, or that he is being banished from God’s protecting presence, and so exposed to death by revenge. Good News Translation has “away from your presence.” Bible en français courant says “I shall have to hide myself far from you,” which is a good translation model.
A fugitive and a wanderer on the earth are the same words as in verse 12. Whoever finds me does not suggest that people will be actively pursuing or looking for Cain, but rather that people will happen to meet him wherever he is wandering. The New English Bible rendering “Anyone who meets me” gives the sense. Good News Translation has “anyone who finds me” here, but “anyone who met him” where the same verb is used in verse 15. This has also been translated “if someone sees me…” in the sense of the person recognizing Cain as a fugitive from justice. In one other translation Cain’s emotion and the tone of lament are brought out at this point by saying “I am afraid, lest anyone who meets me….”
Slay me translates the same verb used in Gen 4.8. The narrator is not concerned that, according to the information so far in his story, there is no one else around who could murder Cain.
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 .
Translation commentary on Genesis 4:14
This verse is a lament or complaint. Cain directs his complaint against God, a complaint about the punishment imposed on him, and against his potential enemy. Translators should try to use whatever features their own language has to bring a complaining or whining tone into their rendering of Cain’s words. Behold is the same term as used in 3.22, but in this context it is one of the features that mark the words that follow as a lament. One recent translation has focused on this feature and used an equivalent local expression “You look!” to make Cain’s words easy for all readers to recognize as a complaint.
Thou hast driven me this day …: driven translates a verb meaning “to send away, banish, expel” and is the same verb used in 3.24, “drove out.” This day refers to the time when Cain is lamenting; that is, “today.” Good News Translation “you are driving me…” makes the action present time, and so “today” can be omitted. Away from the ground refers back to the words of the curse in verse 11, “cursed from the ground.” See verse 11 for comments. In translation this expression should point clearly to the land that is worked to produce food. In English “off the land” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible) expresses this well. We may also say, for example, “away from the fields [or, gardens] where we grow food” or “away from being a farmer.”
And from thy face I shall be hidden: face [of God] is an idiomatic expression meaning “from God’s presence” or “from the place where God is.” Some scholars have argued that Cain refers here to the home of the Kenite tribe, and that the ground refers to the land of Canaan. However, this view presupposes that the narrative is set in Canaan when the people of Israel are settled there. This is very unlikely.
Some interpreters understand that face [of God] in from thy face I shall be hidden refers to God’s anger; but in the context of a lament, it is more likely that Cain is complaining that he will be cut off from God’s blessing and kindness, or that he is being banished from God’s protecting presence, and so exposed to death by revenge. Good News Translation has “away from your presence.” Bible en français courant says “I shall have to hide myself far from you,” which is a good translation model.
A fugitive and a wanderer on the earth are the same words as in verse 12. Whoever finds me does not suggest that people will be actively pursuing or looking for Cain, but rather that people will happen to meet him wherever he is wandering. The New English Bible rendering “Anyone who meets me” gives the sense. Good News Translation has “anyone who finds me” here, but “anyone who met him” where the same verb is used in verse 15. This has also been translated “if someone sees me…” in the sense of the person recognizing Cain as a fugitive from justice. In one other translation Cain’s emotion and the tone of lament are brought out at this point by saying “I am afraid, lest anyone who meets me….”
Slay me translates the same verb used in Gen 4.8. The narrator is not concerned that, according to the information so far in his story, there is no one else around who could murder Cain.
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 .
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