Translation commentary on Letter of Jeremiah 1:24

They are bought at any cost, but there is no breath in them: The sense of the verse is “People are willing to pay any price for these things, things that have no life.” Breath renders the same Greek word that is often translated “spirit.” There is no breath in them means they are not living things; in other words, “there is no life in them” (Contemporary English Version). Compare Psa 135.17; Jer 10.14; Hab 2.19.

Good News Translation and New Jerusalem Bible bring out the irony in the passage: whether you buy a cheap image or a fine, expensive one, you’re getting the same thing—a lifeless object.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• No matter how much money people pay to buy these idols, there is no life in them.

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 1:56

Gods made of wood and overlaid with silver and gold: See verse 39; the same phrase is used here to describe the images.

Thieves and robbers are certainly close enough in meaning to offer translators the option of combining them. The first term refers to people who steal things. The second term has more of a sense of looting and plundering, in other words “taking other people’s possessions by force.”

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 1:16

If integrated into the book of Daniel: 3.39

Yet with a contrite heart and a humble spirit may we be accepted as though it were with burnt offerings …: Yet, “But” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version), or some strong device is needed to introduce the contrast between this verse and the previous one. Even though in exile there is no temple, no altar where observant Jews may offer the prescribed sacrifices, Azariah prays that their contrite heart and humble spirit be accepted by God as being as valid as the offering of stockyards-full of livestock (compare Psa 51.16-17; Hos 6.6; Micah 6.6-7). Contrite means “repentant” or “truly sorry for sins,” so Contemporary English Version renders with a contrite heart and a humble spirit as “if we are humble and truly sorry for our sins.” Good News Translation offers a remarkably good restructuring of some rather involved Greek in this verse. “We come to you” and “begging you” correspond to nothing specific in the Greek but are clearly implied; indeed, this very verse is itself such a coming to God and pleading. “Repentant hearts and humble spirits” is plural in Good News Translation to correspond with the plural subject “we.” May we be accepted as though it were with burnt offerings may be translated “begging you to accept us just as if we had offered” (similarly Good News Translation).

Tens of thousands of fat lambs is literally correct, but “thousands of fat lambs” (Good News Translation) works as well. In any case, this expression is a literary device called hyperbole, overstatement, or exaggeration.

In one printed Greek text, verse 17 begins with as though it were …; New American Bible follows this numbering.

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 1:51

If integrated into the book of Daniel: 3.73

Lightnings and clouds: Good News Translation renders clouds as “storm clouds.” Contemporary English Version combines the two words here as “thunderstorms.” That is also possible.

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 Susanna 1:18

If integrated into the book of Daniel: 13.18.

They did as she said: Good News Translation omits this as redundant, since the text goes on to say just what the servants did. This redundant clause is not necessarily hurtful, however.

Shut the garden doors: The Greek verb for shut here is slightly different from the verb in verse 17, but the servants are doing precisely as Susanna told them. In verse 17 Good News Translation simply has “gates” for garden gates, but here it says “main gates,” since here a distinction must be made between those that are shut tight and those that the servants use to go into the house.

Went out by the side doors: The entrance into the house from the garden seems to be in view here. New Jerusalem Bible expresses this well: “going back to the house by a side entrance.” Contemporary English Version has “went into the house through the side gate.” See the comments on verse 4. Revised Standard Version has the plural side doors as in the Greek text. The writer is probably thinking of double doors, that is, an opening with a hinged door on each side, meeting in the middle. Good News Translation has the singular “side door” because in idiomatic English a person would speak of going “out the door” even if there is a double door. The construction of the doors is irrelevant here. The important point is that a side entrance is used.

Because they were hidden: Good News Translation omits this clause as unnecessary after having told the reader in verse 16 that the two men were hiding. The author probably intends the repeated statement to reinforce the suspenseful scene. What is going to happen when the servants leave? Will the men see Susanna undress? We aren’t told the answer to that, but not being told probably heightens the interest by appealing to the curiosity.

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 Susanna 1:50

If integrated into the book of Daniel: 13.50.

Then all the people returned in haste “to the place of judgment” (verse 49). If the translator has worded verse 49 in such a way as not to refer to a place, it will have to be specified here that they returned to some certain place, such as the house mentioned in verse 28. New English Bible neglects this by simply saying “So the people all hurried back.” Back where? Good News Translation explains with “So all the people hurried back to where the trial had taken place.” Contemporary English Version has “Everyone rushed back to the place where the trial was held.” We could translate all the people as “the whole crowd” with some justification, so this first clause may be rendered “So the whole crowd rushed back to the place where the two men had brought the case against Susanna.”

The elders: These are obviously not the two men who have consistently been referred to as “elders” earlier in this book (for example, verses 18 and 27). Not every translation is careful to make the distinction. Good News Translation “the officials” avoids the confusion by avoiding the term. New English Bible has “the rest of the elders.” Moore translates “the presiding elders,” and Contemporary English Version has “the group of leaders,” or we may say “the group of elderly leaders.”

Come, sit among us: The respected elders would conduct their deliberations while sitting. The young Daniel is being invited to take a place of honor, sitting among them (compare Luke 2.46). Good News Translation “come and join us” does not provide a mental image of sitting, but conveys the essential point, especially since it has been preceded by “God has given you wisdom beyond your years.”

Inform us means “tell us why you think these men were lying.”

God has given you that right is literally “God has given you the eldership.” Hence Good News Translation has “God has given you wisdom beyond your years.” New English Bible and New Revised Standard Version translate “God has given you the standing of an elder.” Contemporary English Version has “God has chosen you to be a leader,” and New Jerusalem Bible expresses it as “God has given you the gifts that elders have.” New American Bible takes a somewhat different approach: “God has given you the prestige of old age.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• So the whole crowd rushed back to the place where the two men had brought the case against Susanna, and the group of elderly leaders said to Daniel, “Come and sit down here with us, and tell us why you think these men are lying. It is obvious to us that God has chosen you to be a leader.”

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 Bel and the Dragon 1:21

If integrated into the book of Daniel: 14.21.

The king was enraged, and he seized the priests …: There is a problem with Good News Translation‘s rendering here, which reads “he became so angry that he had the priests … arrested and brought to him.” This suggests that the ensuing action, having the people brought to him, is what his anger results in. Actually, he is so angry that he has them killed. There are other ways of connecting the king’s anger with his action:
New Jerusalem Bible: “angrily ordered the priests to be arrested….”
New English Bible: “In a rage he put the priests under arrest….”
Moore: “Infuriated, the king arrested the priests….”
New American Bible: “The angry king arrested the priests….”
Contemporary English Version: “He was furious and told his guards to arrest the priests….”

Seized the priests and their wives and children: The king does not seize all these people himself, of course; he has it done by others. “Arrest” is a good word to use for this action, but “had them arrested” (so Good News Translation) avoids the potential misunderstanding in “arrested them.” Good News Translation condenses their wives and children into “their families.” Good News Translation also inserts “and brought to him.” Obviously they have to get from the place of their arrest to the temple, where the king is standing, and this insertion helps the reader.

They showed him the secret doors: Previously the secret doors had been referred to as “a hidden entrance” (verse 13), without our being told that the entrance consisted of more than one door. For this reason Contemporary English Version has simply “the secret door.” Whether the plural doors or the singular “door” is used (see the comments on verse 11), it must be made clear to the reader that we are talking about one entrance here.

Through which they were accustomed to enter: Were accustomed to enter renders one word in Greek. It is the verb “enter” in the imperfect tense, meaning that this entering was a customary action. The translation “used to go in [or, enter/come]” found in New English Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible seems to suggest that their customary action had ended sometime in a more distant past than just a few hours ago. Good News Translation expresses the idea better by using information from verse 15, and says “through which they had come in each night.” Moore has “through which they would enter” and Contemporary English Version “that they used when they sneaked into the temple.”

Devour what was on the table: Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version specify that “food” was on the table, although it is quite clear that anything they ate would be food.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• The king was very angry [or, furious] and ordered his guards to arrest the priests, along with their wives and children, and bring them to him. Then the priests showed him the secret door [or, entrance] that they would use each night to sneak into the temple and eat the food that was on the table.

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 Manasseh 1:6

Yet immeasurable and unsearchable is thy promised mercy: The Greek word rendered immeasurable, meaning “impossible to measure,” is used in Bar 3.25 and 3 Macc 4.17. Unsearchable is used in Rom 11.33 and Eph 3.8 in much the same sense as here. Unsearchable means “not subject to investigation, not able to be understood.” Thy promised mercy is literally “the mercy of your promise,” and is parallel to “the wrath of thy threat” in verse 5. The mercy has not yet been exercised; we stand here in awe before its prospect. The following alternative renderings for this verse reflect this echo of verse 5 and conform to the model for it suggested above:

• But even the promise of your mercy is more than we can measure,
it is beyond our understanding.

• Even when you promise to show us mercy,
we simply cannot measure it or understand it.

• You have promised to be merciful to us;
but we cannot understand or measure your mercy.

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