Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.
Translation commentary on Baruch 2:28
As thou didst speak by thy servant Moses: Good News Translation “as you promised through your servant Moses” focuses on the content of what was said. The idea here is that God was showing compassion in the content of the message he gave Moses. New English Bible brings this out effectively by beginning a new sentence at this point: “For this is what thou didst promise through thy servant Moses.” It would be permissible for translators to repeat the two nouns from verse 27 as follows: “Patience and mercy is what you promised through your servant Moses.” New American Bible has done something like this, but interprets (oddly) the content as another threat, saying “This was your warning through….” Translators are urged not to follow New American Bible. In this clause Moses is God’s instrument in proclaiming this promise and writing down the Law. So in some languages the beginning of this verse will need to be radically restructured in order for readers to understand this; for example, “You promised your servant Moses that you would be patient and kind, and used [or, caused] him to announce this on the day that you commanded him to write….”
On the day: Since the content of what follows cannot be definitely identified, no particular day can be identified, nor can we be certain the writer had any day in mind. “At the time” would do as well, or even a simple “when,” but perhaps the promise is made to appear firmer by reference to the day when it was made.
When thou didst command him to write thy law in the presence of the people of Israel: In the presence of the people of Israel presumably modifies the verb write, not command. There is no place in the Scriptures where Moses writes the Law in the presence of the people, but there is a closely related picture in Josh 8.32, where Joshua writes the Law in their presence. In the presence of the people of Israel may also be expressed as “while the Israelites watched.”
Saying is a little word that may present a serious problem. The translator must somehow signal that the voice is no longer that of the writer but of God, speaking through Moses. It is possible to say “and said” (New Jerusalem Bible, Moore). New English Bible and New American Bible render it as a punctuation mark (a colon), but it is never satisfactory to make understanding rest on a visual clue like this. Good News Translation shows the best approach by inserting “you said” in verse 29. This has the double effect of showing that there is about to be a change of speaker, but that it is still within the context of the prayer. (Good News Translation places “you said” within the quotation simply because it is a more traditional style in English. Other languages may require a different placement.)
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.
Translation commentary on Baruch 3:25
God’s universe is not only enormous, it is infinitely wide, infinitely long, and infinitely deep (or high).
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.
Translation commentary on Baruch 4:20
I have taken off the robe of peace and put on the sackcloth of my supplication: There is tightly compressed symbolism here. Jerusalem is saying that shalom (see Bar 3.13), that is, peace, prosperity, health, well-being, is gone; prayer for salvation has taken its place. The use of the image of clothing here can be compared to Eph 6.14-17, where Paul compares certain virtues with pieces of armor (for example, “the breastplate of righteousness” and “the helmet of salvation”). Just as Paul is not speaking there of an actual breastplate or helmet, the writer is not speaking here of an actual robe or actual sackcloth. They are symbolic. Sackcloth was a rough textured fabric that was worn as a sign of mourning or distress. Contemporary English Version makes this clear with “… I have put on the clothes that show I am in mourning.”
I will cry to the Everlasting all my days: Supplication in the previous line refers to petitionary prayer, the prayer of a person in deep grief, a cry for help (“begging God for help”). So here we may say “I will cry out to the Eternal God to help me as long as I live [or, until the day I die]” (similarly Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version).
All my days means “as long as I live” (Good News Translation), “to the end of my life.” For the Everlasting, see the comments on verse 10.
Good News Translation has restructured the text of this verse, but it has done so in such a way that too much emphasis is placed on clothing. It is not that Jerusalem has taken off robes and put on mourning clothes, it is that peaceful happy days are gone, replaced by bitter grief. Another restructuring is possible:
• Like a woman in mourning who takes off her fine clothing and dresses herself in sackcloth, I have laid aside [or, turned my back on] peaceful times and spend all my time begging God for help.
The translator should note that the imagery of this verse will recur at Bar 5.1-2, where it will be strikingly reversed. The translation here must be worded in such a way as to be reflected in the translation of the later passage.
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.
Translation commentary on Letter of Jeremiah 1:6
The connector For indicates a logical relationship with the previous verse. It may be rendered “because.”
My angel is with you: My angel becomes “God’s angel” in Good News Translation to avoid an awkward shifting of persons. See also verse 3. For background to this verse, see Exo 23.23-24: “When my angel goes before you … you shall not bow down to their gods….” See also Exo 32.34. Angel is translated “God’s messenger” in a number of languages, so a possible rendering for the whole clause is “God’s messenger will be there with you.”
He is watching your lives may be rendered “he will take care of [or, help] you” (Good News Translation).
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.
Translation commentary on Letter of Jeremiah 1:38
These things that are made of wood and overlaid with gold and silver: The material from which the idols are made is described with precision: they are made of wood, but overlaid [“covered” in Good News Translation] with gold and silver. Overlaid does not mean that there is a lavish amount of precious metal, only that there is a covering or plating of gold or silver.
Are like stones from the mountain: Some translations (New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Contemporary English Version) understand this to mean cut stones, stone that has been quarried, presumably in sizable blocks. New Jerusalem Bible says “are about as much use as rocks cut out of the mountain side.” (“About as much use” is a nice idiom in English, but rocks that people have cut from a mountain are quite useful.) The text does not demand this. Probably the writer is thinking of much smaller stones, rocks that people would find underfoot everywhere while walking up a hillside. These idols may be carefully fashioned, and they may be overlaid with precious metals, but they have no more real worth than any rock you could pick up on a mountain. Another way to express the first half of this verse is “These idols that people have made out of wood and overlaid with gold and silver have no more real worth than stones from a mountain.”
Those who serve them will be put to shame: For serve see the comments on verse 27. Will be put to shame renders the same Greek root as the verb translated “ashamed” in verse 27, but here it is perhaps a bit more emphatic. The sense is a little bit different here also. “Embarrassment” suggests a particular occasion. The meaning here is closer to “disappointed and disillusioned.”
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.
Translation commentary on Letter of Jeremiah 1:70
Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version omit from this verse the repetitious expression their gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver.
Good News Translation has restructured the first part of this verse in order to make the relation with verse 70 clear:
These gods … are about as helpful as a scarecrow … they are no protection at all.
They do as much good as a thorn bush … instead of keeping birds away, they provide a perch for them….
The phrase “instead of keeping birds away” makes clear the continuing comparison with the scarecrow that doesn’t scare anything away. The thorn bush could refer to any number of common spiny or thorn covered plants. The point of comparison lies in the fact that they are common but useless.
Like a dead body cast out in the darkness: The writer does not explain how the gods are like a dead body. Quite likely, he is bringing his denunciation of idols to a climax by comparing them to the vilest, most loathsome thing he can think of. He adds cast out in the darkness to stress his point. This means that the disrespected corpse is thrown out during the night, not that it is thrown out “into the darkness” (Good News Translation). So we may say “they are as loathsome [or, disgusting/repulsive] as a dead body thrown out during the night.” Compare Isa 34.3; Jer 14.16; 22.19; 1 Macc 11.4.
A possible alternative model for this verse is:
• Their wooden gods are all shiny with gold and silver, but they have no more use than a thorn bush in a garden; they are just another place for birds to perch. These gods are as loathsome as a dead body thrown out during the night.
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.
Translation commentary on The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men 1:32
If integrated into the book of Daniel: 3.53 and 55
Note here an unusual complication in the verse numbering. Verses 31, 32, and 33 in Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version correspond to verses 53, 55, and 54 of Dan 3 respectively in New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible. In the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, verses 32 and 33 of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation are reversed, and the two Catholic translations New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible follow this traditional order. The text makes good sense in either order, and translators may follow whatever versification they are comfortable with. Those translating this passage as part of the canonical Daniel may wish to use the order of New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible. Those translating it as part of the Apocrypha have no reason to reverse the order. (A further word may help those who are following the Greek text, for it gets more complicated. In Rahlfs’ Greek text, the Theodotion text at the bottom of the page numbers the verses 53, 55, 54. Rahlfs is not altering Theodotion’s Greek text. He is giving each verse the number it has been traditionally given in the Septuagint and Vulgate. In the Göttingen Greek text, the text is the same as in Rahlfs, but it gives the numbers as 53, 54, 55. This means that 54 in Göttingen is 55 in Rahlfs, and 55 in Göttingen is 54 in Rahlfs.) Translators have to be careful here, since Good News Translation has joined verses 31 and 32a into one long sentence. This option is not open to those following the verse numbering of New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible.
Another issue affecting the approach to these three verses is that it is not clear whether the author is thinking of God’s heavenly temple and throne, as in Psa 11.4 and Hab 2.20, or of the temple in Jerusalem. Verse 62 would suggest that at the time of writing, the temple is in use and the priests are at work, while verse 15 is clear that this is not so. But this comparison may mean nothing, since it is possible that each of these two passages is from a different time, and that the passage under discussion here has a separate time of origin. The reference in verse 32 to God looking down on the great abyss is a strong indication that we are thinking here of the heavenly temple.
Since Good News Translation combines verses 31 and 32a into one sentence, these two verses will be discussed together. It may be helpful to view Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation in parallel to observe Good News Translation‘s restructuring for these verses:
to be extolled — May hymns be sung
highly glorified — to your glory forever
thou … thy holy glory — and may your holy presence
blessed — be praised
in the temple — in that temple
who sittest — where you sit on your heavenly throne
upon cherubim — above the winged creatures
and lookest upon the deeps — and look down to the world of the dead
to be praised and highly exalted — May you be praised and honored
for ever — forever
Blessed art thou in the temple of thy holy glory: The Old Testament speaks of God’s glory filling the temple (see 2 Chr 7.1-2; Psa 26.8; 63.2). Good News Translation renders this line as “may your holy presence be praised in that temple,” and Contemporary English Version has “let songs of praise be sung in your holy temple.” Both these versions are slightly clearer than Revised Standard Version. But in many languages it will be necessary to make it clear that holy simply stresses that the glory (power, majesty) belongs to God. An alternative translation model is “May they [the heavenly chorus] praise you up there in your glorious temple in heaven.”
To be extolled and highly glorified for ever: Good News Translation “May hymns be sung to your glory forever” is a possible translation. The Greek very clearly carries the idea of hymns being sung. But “to your glory” is a difficult concept. An alternative model is “May they sing hymns telling you forever how great you are.”
Who sittest upon cherubim: See 1 Sam 4.4; 2 Sam 6.2; and Psa 80.1, and compare Psa 18.10. Cherubim (the singular is “cherub”) were imaginary creatures symbolizing God’s awesome holiness. The ark of the covenant (Good News Translation “covenant box”) was fashioned with cherubim on either end; see Exo 25.18-22. The ark was thought of as representing God’s throne. To describe God as seated upon the cherubim is to say that he is on his royal throne. In both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version cherubim is rendered “winged creatures,” but in some languages a literal translation of this term would seem to refer to “birds” or “winged insects.” In such cases it will be helpful to transliterate cherubim and supply a footnote or glossary item describing these creatures. “On your heavenly throne” (Good News Translation) and “There, from your throne” (Contemporary English Version) are supplied to explain how it is that God is sitting above winged creatures. It anticipates verse 33, and assumes that the temple in question here is the heavenly temple and not the building in Jerusalem (see the comments above).
Lookest upon the deeps: The Greek word translated the deeps here is used in the Greek Old Testament with several meanings. Good News Translation takes it as an equivalent to Sheol, “the world of the dead.” It is used this way in Psa 71.20 (70.20 in Greek), where Revised Standard Version has “the depths”; compare our verse here with Psa 139.8. However, this word usually refers to the seas and oceans (Job 28.14; 38.16). Good News Translation could be altered to bear this meaning as follows: “look down into the depths of the seas.”
And to be praised and highly exalted forever: Compare the last lines of verses 30 and 31. The line here is simply another way of saying what is said there.
An alternative translation model for verses 31-32 is:
• May they praise you up there in your glorious temple in heaven.
May they sing hymns praising you forever.
There, where you sit on your throne above the cherubim,
you look down into the depths [or, bottoms] of the seas.
May you be praised and honored forever.
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.