The first back translation

Translating God’s word is a big responsibility. As such, accountability to others is very important. Our Bible translation procedure builds in accountability to make sure I’m not the only person who gets to decide that what I have translated is an accurate translation.

As part of our process, a content check by one of my co-workers is required. Someone other than the primary translator needs to look at the Kovol text that has been translated and compare it to the original text (which in our case is an English Bible translation). Has anything been added? Has anything been taken away? Having truly settled back into life in Kovol now, Philip has been able to content check Genesis 37 for me. He successfully found some issues that needed correcting. Some Kovol was off and a few things were missing altogether. How grateful I am that we get to improve the translation together! Two heads are better than one after all!

What’s better than two heads, how about three? A further accountability step is that our translation will be checked by a translation consultant: a missionary who is well down the road of their own tribal language’s translation and has helped many others. None of them speak the Kovol language though, so how can they get a window on what has been done?
To prepare for the consultant check Philip (again, not the primary translator) needs to take the Kovol and translate it back into quite literal English. Doing so gives a window into the translation decisions we have made which our consultant will be able to comment on.

The back translation process generates good discussion for our team too. I can see how Philip translates a section and I remember what I intended it to say. Sometimes Philip’s back translation hasn’t matched what I expected and we get to talk it through and improve our understanding of the language together.

It also means that I can share with you the back translation. So without further ado, here is what our current draft of Genesis 37 looks like:

Joseph’s older brothers they disliked Joseph

1 Jacob in the land of Canaan he was. In that place before his father Isaac  wandered. 2Jacob’s kids their story is like this.

Joseph the young man, he was  17 years old. Being (17 years old) his older brothers he was with them and the  sheep  they were watching. His dad’s wife one was Bilha. One wife was Silpa.  Being with the children the sheep they were watching. His older brothers bad behavior they did, and Joseph came and with their father he spoke.

3Jacob a name of his was Israel, he liked Joseph.  He did like (him) that, his older brothers he did like them that, it surpassed them.  It surpassed them and continued. He became an old man and Joseph was born, and that’s why he liked Joseph. A long clothing with many good colors for him he made it. His liking him that was revealed and he made the clothing and gave it to Joseph. 4He gave it to him, and the older brothers realized it was like this dad liked Joseph, and they saw, and they disliked (him). Only arguing words with Joseph they  talked continually.

5At one time Joseph saw a dream. The dream he saw and with his older brothers he talked. He talked, and  they hatred (lit., bile in seat of emotions) became. 6With them he spoke “I saw a dream. With you all I will talk, and you all listen” he said. 7moving on he said “ We to the garden went down” he said. “Went down and got wheat” he said. “Wheat we cut, got, and were tying together” he said  (emphasis word). “We put it” he said. “My own” he said (emphasis word). “got up and in the middle it stood” he said. “It stood” he said (emphasis word). “Yours to mine it” he said (emphasis word). “Beside around they stood” he said (emphasis word). “Knees they bent” he said. 8Like that he spoke, and they strongly spoke “Will you the leader become, and we servants of yours be?” they said. “Will we become that?” they said. Like that they did it and they towards him big hatred (lit., bile in seat of emotions) became.

9 At one time Joseph a dream again saw. He saw and with his older brothers he spoke “I a dream again saw” he said. “With you all I will talk, and you all listen” he said. “The sun, the moon,  11 stars all” he said. “To me knees they bent” he said. 10He spoke, and their father strong words with him spoke “ Your dreams how exactly did you see?” he said. “ We father, mother, older brothers all knees to you bend?” he said.

11He said, and his older brothers became jealous (lit., eyes  became filled with fat) and got/took bad thoughts, but his father the story he did not forget.

The older siblings sold Joseph to the Egyptian people

12At one time his older siblings brought their father’s livestock and beside Shechem they went. They went and they were watching the livestock. 13-14They were there, and father Jacob sent Joseph saying (emphasis word) “your older siblings are in Shechem watching the livestock” he said. “Go and see the people and see the livestock” he said. “Are they good there?” he said (emphasis word). “Are they doing bad there?” he said. “Look come and tell me” he said. He said, “good” he (Joseph) said. The Hebron valley he left and to Shechem he went up.

15At the open/clear place he wandered and wandered around, and a man saw and spoke with him “What are you searching for?” he said. 16He said, he (Joseph) spoke (emphasis word) “for my older siblings I am searching” he said. 17He said, he (other person) said (emphasis word) “far they went up” he said. “I heard (emphasis word) ‘to Dothan we want to go up’ they said” he said. He said, and to Dothan he (Joseph) went up and saw them.

18The older siblings Joseph far off came, and they saw and talk  the decided “We will kill” they said. 19They words among themselves (lit., middle) spoke “the man who sees dreams comes” they said. 20″He will come, and we will kill him” they said. “He will come” they said. “and we will kill him and in a hole for water we will throw him” they said. “Later” they said. “Lying we will talk” they said. “speaking (emphasis word) ‘an agressive animal we  think killed him’ we will say” they said. “His dreams they will become lies” they said.

21Reuben that talk heard and wanting to watch over him he spoke “We will not kill him” he said. 22″His life we cannot make it short” he said. “We just get (him) and water hole  that was left?? we throw him in” he said. He thought “I” he thought “get” he thought “to dad I will give him” he thought.

23Joseph he came, the colorful clothes that they took off him and brought him. 24The brought him a deep water hole there they threw him. The hole was dry and without water.

25Having finished they left and they sat down and ate food. They ate food and people that sold things came and they (the siblings) saw them.  They were Ismael’s people. Midian was another name for them. Sometime ago they left Gilead wanting to sell things to people in Egypt they went down. Sometime ago they got tree sap that smells good, they got ginger and on top of camel backs they put and went down. The older brothers threw Josep in a hole, that place close by they (Ismael’s people) came. 26They came, and Judah with his younger brothers he spoke “We  later secretly kill hide and put (emphasis word) a good thing we will not get” he said. “A money (piece) we will not get” he said. 27″Bringing him and to Ismael’s people we sell him and they will get him” he said. “We ourselves are one blood so” he said. “we will not kill him” he said. He spoke, and his younger brothers heard his words.

28Ismael’s people they came. They came, and the older brothers pulled Joseph out of the hole and to them sold (him) and money 20  silver they got. They (the brothers) got/received, and they (Ismael’s people) brought Joseph and went down to Egypt.

29Reuben went to the hole and looked. Joseph was not there. 30He (Joseph) was not there, and he (Reuben) became sad/distressed (lit., seat of emotions became bad). he became sad/distressed (lit., seat of emotions became bad) and he tore clothes apart. He tore apart and with his younger brothers he spoke “the young man is gone” he said. “What are we going to do?” he said. 31They got an animal killed (it) and blood on Joseph’s clothes smeared. 32Smeared brought it and went down their father him they showed it. They said, “Clothes it the road  (hot??) came searched saw and brought it” they said. “Is it your son’s clothes?” 33they said, their father looked and said “(It is) my son’s clothes” he said. Their father saw the blood and said “An agressive animal completely? killed and ate (him)” he said.

34Father Jacob his clothes he tore apart and clothes for crying he put on and cried continually. He cried and cried, 35 and all his children came and very good words with him they spoke (emphasis word). Their father spoke “I am going to cry continually” he said. “Crying continuing and continuing I will die” he said. “To the grave I will go only crying continually” he said. Like that he spoke.

36Their father cried and cried, ank

d Ismael’s people went down to Egypt and Joseph to a person they sold him. The person’s name was Potifar. Potifar he for the Egyptian king (he) was a man who did (his) work. He was a man who fought and  watched over the king.

It is, of course, still a work in progress. I’m looking forward to talking through with Philip how we back translate our verb tenses. How will we translate mandot, mandotyam and mandeb agamot – which are all the verb “to wander” in the past tense. What are the nuances of meaning between them and what is the English that best encapsulates these differences? Lots to learn from each other I’m sure!