Canaan

The term that is transliterated as “Canaan” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the sign loosely referencing the act of hiding/covering one’s face in shame. The association of “shame” with the name “Canaan” comes from Genesis 9, specifically verse 9:25. This sign was adapted from a similar sign in Kenyan Sign Language (see here). (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Canaan” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Canaan in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Gen 44:8)

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 exclusive pronoun, excluding Joseph’s steward.

complete verse (Genesis 44:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 44:8:

  • Kankanaey: “You (sing.) emphatically know that upon- our (excl.) -coming-from Canaan, we (excl.) returned to you (sing.) the silver that we (excl.) found in our (excl.) sacks. Therefore what is your (sing.) basis-for-saying that we (excl.) stole silver or gold from the house of your (sing.) master?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Furthermore, we even brought back from the land of Canaan the silver we found in our sacks. Why would we steal gold [or] silver from your master’s house?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (sing.) know also/as-well that from Canaan we (excl.) brought-back to you (sing.) the money which we (excl.) saw in our (excl.) sacks. So why would- we (excl.) -steal silver or gold from the house of your (sing.) master?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “We even brought back to you from Canaan land the silver that we found inside the tops of our sacks! So we certainly would not steal silver or gold from your master’s house!/Why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 44:8

Behold, the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks: Behold calls attention to the reason why the brothers could not be guilty as charged, namely, that they returned the silver that had been put into their sacks. Good News Translation expresses Behold here with “You know that…,” which is a good model.

How then should we steal silver or gold…?: a more natural question in many languages is “Why should we steal…?” “Why do you think we would…?” or “We could not steal….” See also Good News Translation.

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 .