Translation commentary on Baruch 2:29

If you will not obey my voice: In many languages this will be simply “If you do not obey me” (Good News Translation) or “If you refuse to obey me” (Contemporary English Version). As noted in the comments on the previous verse, Good News Translation adds “you said” to remind the reader that Baruch is here quoting what God said to Moses.

This very great multitude: Good News Translation has omitted this phrase, which is picturesque enough in Greek to be considered important. The translational problem is that God is addressing Israel in the second person (you), but then issues a threat against what sounds like a third party (this very great multitude) when actually the multitude in question is Israel. For the rest of this passage in Greek, through verse 35, God continues to speak of Israel in the third person (so Revised Standard Version), but Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version change this to the second person. The phrase in question here is important, though; we don’t want to lose it. The adjectives are emphatically placed, and the Greek noun rendered multitude means “buzzing,” and is used of swarms of insects. (In all fairness, the Hebrew behind the Greek term here may well have been a more ordinary word for a crowd.) Moore translates “this large, swarming crowd,” New English Bible has “this great swarming multitude,” and Contemporary English Version uses “this mighty nation of yours.” One way to solve the problem regarding the references to Israel is to reword the beginning of this verse in the following way: “ ‘You are now a huge swarm of people,’ you told us, ‘but if you do not obey me….’ ” Another possible approach is “ ‘If you do not obey me,’ you said, ‘the whole swarming number of you will be reduced….’ ” Still another alternative would be: “You told us, ‘If you Israelites will not obey me, the whole swarming number of you will be reduced to no more than a handful….’ ” Whatever solution the translator comes to, it must fit well with the way the quotation is introduced; see the comments on “saying” in verse 28.

Will surely turn into a small number is a literal translation. “Will be reduced to a handful” (Good News Translation) and “will be nothing but a handful of people” (Contemporary English Version) are simply idiomatic English equivalents. The word surely is present in Greek, but not expressed in Good News Translation. This idea could be retained by saying “will be reduced to no more than a handful.”

Among the nations, where I will scatter them: See the comments on “scattered” at verses 4-5.

An alternative translation model for verses 27b-29 is:

• and have shown us great mercy, just as you promised your servant Moses when you said to him that you would be patient and kind. You caused him to announce this on the day when you commanded him to write down your Law while the people of Israel watched. You said, “You are now a huge swarm of people, but if you do not obey me, I will let your enemies take you as captives to live among all the other nations, and they will reduce you to no more than a handful.”

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 3:26

The giants were born there, who were famous of old: Giants refers to the beings mentioned in Genesis 6.1-4. Though little is said about them there, later tradition pictured them as arrogant men who misused their great strength (see Wis 14.6; Sir 16.7; 3 Macc 2.4). The Greek says they were born there; Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have them born “here,” since we inhabit the same universe. There is no statement here that there is more than one universe. Contemporary English Version has “Long ago, the famous giants were born here.” If a language does not have a term for giants, they may be described as “huge [or, enormous] people.”

Great in stature, expert in war: Great in stature refers to the giants being very tall or big. Good News Translation calls them “a mighty race,” but this could be interpreted in a favorable sense, which cannot be allowed here. New American Bible refers to them as “stalwarts,” but this presents the same problem, perhaps even more so. An alternative model for the whole line is “They were tall and powerful and skillful in fighting.”

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 4:21

Take courage: The subsection of the poem that includes verses 21-26 begins with the same strong imperative verb as in verse 5 (see the comments there).

Cry to God: The Greek verb for cry used here is a different word from the one translated “cry” in the previous line, but the meaning is the same. Contemporary English Version says “beg God to help you!”

He will deliver you from the power and hand of the enemy: See the comments on verse 18. Power and hand can be easily and appropriately combined, but two terms of similar meaning can also be used to good effect. Good News Translation does this well with “He will rescue you from oppression, from the power of your enemies,” but New Jerusalem Bible is especially good in its choice of words: “he will deliver you from tyranny, from the clutches of your enemies.” Contemporary English Version, however, combines the two words with “He is the one who will rescue you from your powerful enemy.”

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 1:7

Their tongues are smoothed by the craftsman …: The pronoun Their refers to the idols, and this must be made clear, as in Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version. For the author and original audience, the tongues of the idols were important. Some images were thought of as oracles and were fashioned with open mouths—but such subtlety would be completely lost on a modern audience.

Good News Translation renders the Greek word for smoothed as “carved,” which is not actually wrong, but the reference is probably to the wood and the way it was smoothed or polished (New Jerusalem Bible “polished smooth”). The word craftsman is a good general term, which is what the Greek term here is. Although it often refers to woodworkers (Moore translates “carpenter”), it can be used of any kind of artisan. The translation of terms for both the person and the action will depend on what kind of idol we think of. Here, since we are told the idols are overlaid with gold and silver, we are justified in thinking of them as first carved from wood and then covered with gold and silver.

The reordering of the first two clauses in this verse in Good News Translation is effective and less jarring than beginning with Their tongues and then describing the manufacture of the idols themselves.

They are false and cannot speak: The pronoun they refers to the idols, not their tongues. They are real idols, of course, but “they are not real gods” (Good News Translation). Good News Translation restates this simply and well, as does Contemporary English Version with “Idols are not really gods—they can’t even talk!” Compare Psa 115.4-5; 135.15-16.

In languages that do not have the passive voice, we may translate this verse as follows:

• Craftsmen plate their idols with silver and gold, and woodworkers carve the idols’ tongues out of wood. But these idols are not really gods—they can’t even talk.

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 1:39

Why then must any one think that they are gods, or call them gods?: The refrain appears again here, but this time it is worded a bit differently. Literally it says “How then is it to be thought or called that they are gods?” Good News Translation has it just right. The question asked here does not expect an answer; the answer expected in Revised Standard Version would be “They must not.” The answer expected in Good News Translation would be “They cannot.” The question can also be expressed as a statement: “No one can possibly think that they are gods, or call them gods” or “It’s not possible that people can think that these are really gods or can even call them gods.”

Besides, even the Chaldeans themselves dishonor them: Besides indicates emphasis in the Greek, and may certainly be retained in a number of languages. The Chaldeans are “Babylonians” (Good News Translation; see the comments on Bar 1.2). Themselves also reveals emphasis in the Greek. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version bring this across with “their own gods.” For dishonor them, the right shade of meaning is hard to catch here. It is not that the Babylonians, by their bad behavior, dishonor their deities. It is rather that the Babylonians do things that put their gods to an objective test, which they fail. They are putting their gods in a position where anyone with good sense has to see their worthlessness; hence the gods are dishonored. New English Bible comes close to the right idea with “Besides, even the Chaldeans themselves bring these idols of theirs into disrepute,” or we may even say “… cause these idols of theirs to lose respect [or, honor].”

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 1:71

Purple and linen: The Greek word for purple refers to a dye, but the word is often used to refer to cloth or fabric dyed with it. The Greek word for linen is actually “marble,” but it is undoubtedly a translator’s error for “fine linen.” The same Hebrew word can mean both. All versions accept this change and a footnote, such as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, is in order. Linen was a white cloth made from flax fibers. In areas where linen is unknown, translators may have to use a general expression such as “fine white cloth.”

The Greek speaks of purple and linen as two items. The “purple goods” and “fine linen” here may refer to two different kinds of material, but can as easily refer to linen dyed purple, as Good News Translation has taken it with “purple linen robes” (also Contemporary English Version). See verse 12 and the comments there.

You will know that they are not gods may be rendered “this also proves they are not really gods” (Contemporary English Version).

They will finally themselves be consumed: Good News Translation is helpful in telling us “they will be eaten by termites” (compare verse 12). But unfortunately, its ambiguous pronoun “they” leads us to think we are talking only of the garments; the reference is almost surely to the idols themselves. So Contemporary English Version has “Someday the idols themselves will waste away to nothing.”

Be a reproach in the land: Since the idols have repeatedly been pictured as dead, this cannot mean that they suffer from any disgrace. It could mean that when they rot away, it is a source of shame or disgrace to their owners or worshipers, but this is not likely. If you have an idol and it rots away, you get another one. Good News Translation probably interprets it correctly: it becomes a thing that not even idol worshipers have any use for. In the land, however, probably means “in the country,” that is, the land where they are worshiped. The Good News Translation translation “anywhere” could be improved since the Greek word for land points to a particular place or area rather than the whole world. An alternative model then is “the worshipers will no longer have any use for them.”

The term reproach will be echoed in the next verse.

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 1:33

If integrated into the book of Daniel: 3.54

Blessed art thou upon the throne of thy kingdom: The throne of thy kingdom is translated “your royal throne” by Good News Translation and Moore (similarly New English Bible). Another approach for the whole line is “May you be praised as you rule from your throne [or, as you use your kingly power].” The Greek has nothing to correspond to “as you sit” in Good News Translation, but that is what kings do with thrones, and the insertion fills in the logic and makes the image clearer.

To be extolled and highly exalted for ever: Almost exactly the same line was used in verse 31, where Good News Translation translated it exactly the same as here: “May hymns be sung to your glory 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.

Translation commentary on The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men 1:66

If integrated into the book of Daniel: 3.88

Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael: This is the only place in this deuterocanonical addition to the book of Daniel that the three men are named in the Theodotion text (see Dan 1.6). In the Septuagint they are also named in verse 1 (see the comments there). Some translators will have a problem with these three names appearing here, since they are the speakers, and it is awkward for the speakers to be naming themselves. Contemporary English Version deals with this problem by beginning the verse as follows: “The three of us—Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael—should sing praises to the Lord forever….”

He has rescued us from Hades and saved us from the hand of death, and delivered us …: Hades is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Sheol (see Psa 16.10), which is “the world of the dead” (Good News Translation; see the comments on Bar 2.17). In some languages Hades will be rendered “the place where dead people go.”

The hand of death is a poetic expression for “death,” emphasizing its power.

Three verbs are used in this verse to describe God’s salvation: he rescued them from Hades, saved them from death, and delivered them from the fire. The verb delivered is used twice. It is not necessary to reflect this pattern in translation; few translations do. New Jerusalem Bible has “rescued … saved … snatched … drawn….” The stylistic point worth preserving is the emphasis on being rescued from the fire. It is emphasized in Greek (a) by using the same verb twice, (b) by using and repeating the phrase from the midst of, and (c) by the descriptive expression burning fiery furnace. New English Bible and Moore have a rather effective expression for rescued us from the midst of the fire, saying “rescued us from the heart of the fire” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible). Good News Translation simply says “saved us from the fire,” which can be faulted only in that it does not repeat a description of being taken out of the furnace; it sounds more like a summary statement.

Contemporary English Version provides a helpful model for the whole verse:

• The three of us—
Hananiah, Azariah,
and Mishael—
should sing praises
to the Lord forever,
because if he hadn’t rescued us,
we would have died
in a flaming furnace
and gone down
to the world of the dead.

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.