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)

Joseph

The term that is transliterated as “Joseph” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that relates to a) the coat he wore (see Gen 37:3), b) the holding of his clothes by Potiphar’s wife (see Gen 39:12), and c) the many times Joseph experienced grief. (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


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

In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign that signifies “dream,” referring to Jacob’s dream at Bethel (see Genesis 28:10 and the following verses). (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Joseph” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

complete verse (Genesis 45:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 45:4:

  • Kankanaey: “So then, Jose said to them, ‘Please approach-me.’ When they then approached, he said, ‘I am your younger-sibling Jose whom you sold to those who brought me here to Egipto.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “He said to his elder brothers — ‘Come close to me.’ After they had come close to him, he said — ‘I am your younger brother Joseph whom you sold and sent to the land of Egypt.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So Jose said, ‘[You (pl.)] come-near to me.’ When they had- now -come-near he said, ‘I (am) Jose your (pl.) sibling/(brother), the-(one) you (pl.) sold who was-brought hereto Egipto.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come close to me!’ When they came closer, he said, ‘I am your brother Joseph! I am the one you sold to traders who brought me here to Egypt!” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 45:4

So Joseph said: Revised Standard Version So renders the usual Hebrew connective but makes this more friendly approach by Joseph link to the previous verse as his response to the fear his brothers displayed. Some translations say “Well, Joseph spoke to them again:….”

Come near to me, I pray you: Joseph, who has the authority to have them put in prison or executed, addresses them in a particularly polite manner. This would have a calming effect on their emotions. They respond by moving closer to him.

It is clear to Joseph that his brothers have not been able to grasp what he has revealed to them.

I am your brother, Joseph: this time he not only says he is Joseph but adds your brother.

It would not be difficult for someone else to say that he was Joseph or even “your brother Joseph”; but Joseph now speaks of the event that tore him from his family and father: whom you sold into Egypt. This is the thought that the brothers least wanted to hear, and no doubt a shocking revelation about his brothers to young Benjamin. See the next verse for discussion of you sold.

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 .