And they collected money: The collection of funds is presented as another response to the reading of the book. Good News Translation presents it wrongly as an action that followed later by beginning with “Then” (meaning “After all this was over, then they….”) No connective is needed, not even and. They collected money is not a continuous action, but a one-time action.

Each giving what he could is literally “according as the hand of each was able,” which is a Hebrew idiom. It is very close to the Greek text of Deut 16.10.

Good News Translation combines the two clauses in this verse, but this is not appropriate here. The idea of making a collection should be expressed before people giving money is mentioned. The New Revised Standard Version (New Revised Standard Version) is helpful here: “they collected as much money as each could give” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

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.

Look down from thy holy habitation: Thy holy habitation is of course heaven, as Good News Translation says. Nearly the same clause here is found at Deut 26.15, where Good News Translation translates it a bit more adequately: “Look down from your holy place in heaven.” This keeps the sense of the original text while identifying the reference. However, holy means “belonging to God,” so we may also translate “Look down from your home in heaven.”

Consider us: Good News Translation gives more detail about what the people want, which is for God to take notice of their misery. Another possible model is “Please notice how we are suffering.” We may alternatively translate the first sentence as follows: “O Lord, we are suffering terribly! Please look down from your home in heaven and think about [or, pay attention to] us.”

Incline thy ear … and hear; open thy eyes … and see: These same clauses are found in 2 Kgs 19.16 and Dan 9.18. The images here picture God as a person, opening his eyes, and cocking his head to hear better. Good News Translation accepts the second image by translating “open your eyes and look upon us” since this is natural in English. However, English has difficulty with the image of the ear, so Good News Translation sacrifices it and translates simply, but adequately, “Listen to our prayer.” Contemporary English Version has “Listen when we call out to you.”

The connector for in this context means “because.”

The dead who are in Hades: In Greek mythology Hades was the realm of the dead. It is very close to the Hebrew idea of Sheol, which it surely translates here. Good News Translation customarily translates the term as “the world of the dead.” Another option, suggested by New English Bible and Moore, would be “the dead, who are in their graves.”

Whose spirit has been taken from their bodies may be rendered “who have no life in them.”

Will not ascribe glory or justice to the Lord: The Greek text has only one verb rendered ascribe for the objects glory and justice, but for naturalness in English Good News Translation uses a separate verb for each object, saying “cannot offer praises to you or proclaim how just you are.” New English Bible is similar with “it is not they who sing the Lord’s praises or applaud his justice.” Note that this verse is addressed to the Lord, but here it speaks of the Lord in the third person. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version avoid this awkwardness by maintaining the second person address.

For the idea that the dead cannot praise God, see Psa 6.5; 30.9; Isa 38.18.

An alternative translation model for verses 16-17 is:

• O Lord, we are suffering terribly! Please look down from your home in heaven and think about [or, pay attention to] us. Listen when we cry to you. Look at us. The dead, who are in their graves, have no life, so they cannot praise you or tell you how fair [or, just] you are.

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.

Notice the structure of this verse:

Learn
where there is wisdom,
where there is strength,
where there is understanding,
that you may … discern
where there is length of days,
and life,
where there is light for the eyes,
and peace.

Good News Translation slightly restructures this verse by combining the first three “where” clauses into one, and the last two “where” clauses into one. Rather than one long sentence with a purpose clause, Good News Translation makes two sentences. The idea of learning with a purpose is expressed by “Then” beginning the second sentence. New English Bible has radically restructured the verse by converting the first three “where” clauses into a series of questions, and answering them with “Learn…”: “Where is understanding, where is strength, where is intelligence? Learn that, and then you will know where to find life and light to walk by, long life and peace.”

Some translators may wish to consider combining the terms wisdom and understanding.

Strength, as Moore points out, may well refer to moral and spiritual strength rather than physical strength. Compare Micah 3.8: “But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.” The Hebrew word translated “power” in that verse is translated in the Greek Bible by the word for strength used here in Baruch. If translators have a term for strength that can mean “spiritual [or, moral] power,” it should be used here. Otherwise, it will be helpful to say something like “power of the heart” if that has the sense of “spiritual power.”

That you may at the same time discern …: Discern means to discover something through your own mental activity, rather than being taught. Good News Translation translates this as a statement: “Then you will know….”

Length of days refers to long life. Good News Translation keeps length of days, and life from being repetitive by giving life a qualitative interpretation: “a long and full life” (similarly Contemporary English Version). See Psa 16.11.

Light for the eyes refers to guidance, so both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version say “light to guide you.”

Peace again refers to the quality of life, happiness, and prosperity.

Concerning Wisdom as the source of the blessings mentioned here, see Pro 3.16; 8.14.

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.

Translators should ignore the connector For, as Good News Translation does.

She saw the wrath that came upon you from God: It is helpful to identify Jerusalem here, as Good News Translation does, rather than leave it as she. We are beginning an extended passage where Jerusalem, as a grieving mother, will be speaking. Good News Translation introduces the idea of punishment, which is not stated directly in Greek: “Jerusalem saw that God was punishing you because he was angry.” This is certainly the writer’s idea, though his words could be expressed as “Jerusalem saw how angry God was with you.” The slight restructuring in Good News Translation could be improved by beginning this verse as follows: “When Jerusalem saw that God was punishing you because he was angry, she said….”

Jerusalem will be speaking from this point on through verse 29, although she will finish speaking to her neighbors in verse 16, and then begin speaking to the exiles.

Hearken is a literal rendering of the Greek word here. This word can be interpreted in two ways. If it means literally “Listen,” Jerusalem is calling on her neighbors to listen to what she has to say, and the translator should indicate this by saying “Listen to me” (Contemporary English Version) or “… to what I have to say.” More likely, however, the word is simply an attention-getter, in which case the imagery of looking (Good News Translation) is just as good as that of listening (compare Lam 1.12).

You neighbors of Zion: In Greek, Jerusalem addresses her neighbors. Good News Translation makes this more natural in English by taking the identification of those spoken to out of Jerusalem’s words and putting it in the leading statement: “she said to all the neighboring cities.” (The Greek does not say “all.”) Zion was technically only a part of the city of Jerusalem, but often, as here, the two names mean the same thing; Good News Translation combines them. Good News Translation interprets neighbors as “neighboring cities.” It could actually refer to neighboring cities, regions, or peoples, but cities (or towns), as centers of population, is a good way of expressing the idea (see Jer 49.18). The phrase neighbors of Zion occurs again in verses 14 and 24.

God has brought great sorrow upon me may be translated “God has caused me to be very sad.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• When Jerusalem saw that God was punishing you because he was angry, she said, “Listen to me, you nearby towns. God has made me feel very sad.”

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.

Compare Isa 1.26; Jer 33.16; Ezek 48.35.

Translators may omit the connector For at the beginning of this verse.

Your name will for ever be called by God: This verse refers back to Bar 4.30, where God is the one who gave Jerusalem its name (see the comments there). Here she is to receive from God another name for ever. Contemporary English Version makes this clear with “he will give you this new name forever.”

Peace of righteousness and glory of godliness: God will manifest his claim to Jerusalem anew by establishing there Peace (that is, well-being; see the comments on Bar 3.13) through righteousness (that is, justice). Only by seeing that justice prevails will Jerusalem find peace. God will have his glory manifested there in the godliness of the people. This will be the “splendor” that God will show all over the world (verse 3). Godliness refers to a person’s devotion to God, to a sincerely religious attitude.

The five nouns here—name, Peace, righteousness, glory, godliness—are tightly compressed into a dense mass. Dealing with this structure can be approached in two ways. Translators can leave something of the compactness of the original text, if they think the effect is at least as important here as the meaning. Good News Translation has allowed for this in its footnote: “He will give you this name forever: ‘Peace from Righteousness and Glory from Godliness.’ ” If, however, translators want to convey the content of the nouns, they need to find some way to expand these lines. Good News Translation has done this in the text. What God says in Good News Translation (“Your security … devotion to me”) is a reasonable interpretation of what these titles would mean, and translators can confidently follow Good News Translation in it. We must beware, however, of a potential problem in the Good News Translation introduction to God’s words (“Forever he will say to you”). Its introduction sounds like God is going to be repeating the following words for all eternity. Perhaps “Forever” could be placed within God’s words as follows: “Your security comes forever from your righteousness….” Another approach may be to tie it in closely with the previous verse: “ God will show your splendor to every nation on earth. They will know you forever by what God has said to you, ‘Your security….’ ”

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.