English indicates exceptional relationships by first describing a group (Part 1) and then stating what is not in that group using words like “except,” “but not” “other than,” “besides,” “unless,” “however…not,” and “only” (Part 2). Some languages do not indicate that one or more items or people are excluded from a group in this way, but instead have other ways. In some languages this type of construction does not make sense, because the exception in Part 2 seems to contradict the statement in Part 1. Translators need to understand who or what is in the group and who or what is excluded in order to be able to accurately communicate this in their language.
> God told Adam that he could eat from <u>any</u> tree in the garden <u>except</u> from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (OBS Story 1 Frame 11)
> But if you will not redeem it, then tell me, so that I may know, for there is <u>no one</u> to redeem it <u>besides</u> you, and I am after you." (Ruth 4:4 ULT)
> David attacked them from the twilight to the evening of the next day. <u>Not</u> a man escaped <u>except for</u> four hundred young men, who rode on camels and fled. (1 Samuel 30:17 ULT)
If the way that Exceptional Clauses are marked in the source language is also clear in your language, then translate the Exceptional Clauses in the same way.
1. Very often, the exception in Part 2 contradicts something that was negated in Part 1. In this case, the translator can phrase the same idea without the contradiction by deleting the negative and using a word like “**only**.”
(1) Very often, the exception in Part 2 contradicts something that was negated in Part 1. In this case, the translator can phrase the same idea without the contradiction by deleting the negative and using a word like “**only**.”
> David attacked them from the twilight to the evening of the next day. **Not a man escaped <u>except for</u> four hundred young men**, who rode on camels and fled. (1 Samuel 30:17 ULT)
> But if you will not redeem it, then tell me, so that I may know, for there is <u>no one</u> to redeem it <u>besides</u> you, and I am after you." (Ruth 4:4 ULT)
>> But if you will not redeem it, then tell me, so that I may know, for <u>you are first in line to redeem it [only you can redeem it]</u>, and I am after you."
> God told Adam that he could eat from <u>any</u> tree in the garden <u>except</u> from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (OBS Story 1 Frame 11)
>> God told Adam that he could <u>not</u> eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but he could eat from <u>any other</u> tree in the garden.