NJV. Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had amassed and the people they had acquired in Haran. They set off for the land of Canaan, and arrived there.
Mangghuer. Zhada ganni bieri Xusuni a diaoni kao Munsini a yiguanaŋ ma koŋsini Xidunda weiliesaŋni barilaŋ. Ghazherji Hudoru yaoku – ghazher Hudoru rijiaŋ.
Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot = Zhada ganni bieri Xusuni barilaŋ
Zhada = Abram
ganni = his
bieri = wife
Xusuni = Sarai
I discuss Zhada in Genesis 12:1.
Xusuni is the Accusative form of Xusu, which is my translation of Sarai.
Sarai comes from the Hebrew sawrah’ee (שרי), which comes from the root sar (שר), whose various meanings include chieftain, chief, ruler, official, captain or prince.
I wonder whether this is a reference to the fact that Sarai is the first person that the Bible explicitly depicts as owning not only a named servant (Hagar the Egyptianess), but any form of servant.
Xusu has two components:
1. xujun = daughter
2. tusu = [Mongol chief].
BibleHub lists sar as an unused word. Therefore, I take the word T’ussu (Mandarin Tusi), who were the local officials whom the Ming Emperors appointed to control the various clans in the area.
The Ming Dynasty ruled from around 1368 to 1643, and rose to power after the fall of the Yuan dynasty, which was established by Genghis Khan.
and his nephew Lot = a diaoni kao Munsini
a = [also]
diaoni = younger brother’s
kao = son
Munsini = Lot
barilaŋ = took
The original Hebrew does not have a word for nephew, it explicitly states that Lot (Munsi) was the son of Abraham’s brother.
Terah, the father of Abram, had three sons. In Genesis 11:26, they are listed in this order: Abram, Nahor and Haran. Therefore, I have made assumption that Haran was the younger brother of Abram.
Mangghuer does have a generic word for brother: ga.
I chose to use diao (younger brother). The word for older brother is gaga.
all the possessions they had amassed = a yiguanaŋ
a = [also]
yiguanaŋ = totally own
yiguanaŋ has two components:
1. yigua = totally
2. –naŋ = one’s own thing.
Salter names –naŋ the Reflexive Possessive suffix.
Depending on context, it can mean my own thing, your own thing, his/her own thing.
The person/people performing the action are the same as the people who own the thing in question.
and the people they had acquired in Haran = ma koŋsini Xidunda weiliesaŋni
ma = and
koŋsi ni = people
Xidunda = in Haran
weiliesaŋni = things had acquired.
weiliesaŋni has the same three components:
1. weilie = work
2. –saŋ = [completed action]
3. –ni = [a Noun].
I use weiliesaŋni to translate both they had amassed and they had acquired. These are different verbs in the original Hebrew.
I decided to emphasise the degree to which they gathered both their possessions and servants through hard and constant work.
I show the distinction between their possessions and servants with the Particle ma, which here translates to and. It can sometimes mean but.
The Hebrew word for person is neh’fesh (נפש), whose other translations include soul, emotion, appetite and living being, among others.
koŋ is my translation of neh’fesh, and this does not carry the Suffix –naŋ. Yahweh calls Abram because the latter is full of faith. Thus he knows that all souls belong to Yahweh, and thus does not claim ownership thereof.
They set off for the land of Canaan = ghazherji Hudoru yaoku
yaoku = they set off
ghazherji = towards the land
Hudoru = Canaan
Canaan is the son of Ham, who was the son of Noah who built the arc.
It comes from the Hebrew kenah’an (כנען), and it comes from the Verb kawnah’ (כנע), which means be humble.
Hudoru comes from three components:
1. hou = back
2. duoruo = under
3. ruo = enter.
Mangghuer uses Postpositions rather than Prepositions. Thus, the translation for under the back is hou duorou.
Altogether, the full phrase hou duoruo ruo means to enter under the back, or the slightly more poetic to enter (the presence of Yahweh) bowingly.
and arrived there = ghazher Hudoru rijiaŋ.
The original Hebrew uses the full phrase the land of Canaan, rather than simply there.
KJV. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
Mangghuer. Zhada ganni bieri Xusuni a diaoni kao Munsini a yiguanaŋ ma koŋsini Xidunda weiliesaŋni barilaŋ. Ghazherji Hudoru yaoku – ghazher Hudoru rijiaŋ.