The word play in the Hebrew original between “shaqed” (translated in most English versions as “almond tree”) of Jeremiah 1:11 and “shoqed” (translated in most English versions as “watching”) in Jeremiah 1:12 is reproduced in the German Good News translation (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) of 1982 with Wacholderzweig (“juniper branch”) and wache (“watch”). Accompanying the translation is a note, indicating that the literal translation would be Mandelbaum (“almond tree”), which they point out is the first to bloom in the spring, giving the appearance not to have slept. Then they explain that just as Hebrew has a play on words between “shaqed” and “shoqed,” so also they have made a play on words between Wacholder and wachen in their translation.
Das Wortspiel im hebräischen Oiginal zwischen "shaqed" (zu deutsch "Mandelbaum") in Jer. 1.11 und "shoqed" (zu deutsch "sehen", "schauen") in Jer 1.12 wird von der Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch von 1982 mit "Wacholderzweig" and "wache" nachgebildet. Die Übersetzung wird von folgender Fußnote begleitet: "Der Mandelbaum blüht im Frühjahr als erster und scheint im Winter sozusagen gar nicht 'geschlafen' zu haben." Dann wird erklärt, dass das hebräische Wortspiel dem deutschen Wortspiel zwischen "Wacholder" und "wachen" Vorbild war.
The Hebrew in Jeremiah 10:5 that is translated as “scarecrow” in English is translated in Bassa in Liberia as “a stick that a person decorates with clothes and sets in a farm.”
The Hebrew in Jeremiah 4:3 that is translated as “break up your fallow ground” in some English versions is translated as “prepare your hard hearts like a person prepares a garden spot” in Bassa.
The musical instrument that is most often translated as “flute” or “pipe” in English is more or less universally used, so it’s typically translated directly with the applicable term.
Since its cultural significance is sometimes different it might be translated with a different instruments is some cases (see also below). When in Matthew 11:17 and Luke 7:32 the flute is mentioned as an instrument played at a wedding, the Chichewa (interconfessional translation, 1999) translates it as “we played the wedding drum for you” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 74), the Yakan and Kankanaey translations use “gongs” (source: Yakan and Kankanaey Back Translations), in Western Bukidnon Manobo “drumming” is used (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation), and in Tagbanwa “stringed-instruments” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
Or in Jeremiah 48:36 where the flute is used for mourning, Bassa uses “funeral drum” (source: Newman / Stine) or Hiligaynon, while using “flute,” makes the meaning explicit: “like a lonely music of a flute for the dead” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation).
Description: The flute was a wind instrument consisting of a tube with a series of finger holes used to alter the tone. Some flutes were made of reed and could take several forms: the tube could be a cylinder or it could be more in the shape of a cone. There were instruments made of a single tube, while others had two tubes side by side. Often ancient double flutes or double pipes were arranged in a V-shape, with two separate reeds. One of these pipes had several holes while the other had only one hole and acted as a kind of drone, providing an unchanging tone to accompany the varying tones coming from the first pipe. Some pipes or flutes were made of other materials, such as wood, ivory, bone, or metal.
Usage: Sound was produced with the flute by blowing across an opening leading into a hole running inside the length of the instrument; in some cases the opening hole was in the end of the instrument while in others this hole was in the side of the instrument toward one end. With the reed pipe, on the other hand, a column of air was set in motion by blowing over a reed device, causing it to vibrate.
Translation: If there is no wind instrument available to translate “flute,” a different kind of wind instrument may be used.
The Hebrew word ‘ugav is usually understood to refer to a wind instrument. It is possible, however, that it is a generic term for “instrument” or even refers to a particular stringed instrument. In Job 21:12 and Job 30:31 it is identified as an instrument that expressed joy and contentment.
Psalms 5:1: The Hebrew word nchiloth appears only here in the Old Testament, and its meaning is uncertain. It may mean “wind instruments” in general or “flutes” in particular. Extra-biblical evidence indicates that it may have been an instrument played for funeral laments.
Matthew 9:23: Here New Revised Standard Version, updated edition has “flute players”: According to Jewish tradition, even the poorest people were expected to have two flute players and a wailing woman for a funeral. In order to clarify the role of the flute players Good News Translation adds “for the funeral.” This information was immediately evident to a Jewish reader who was familiar with the funeral customs, but it will not be clear to other readers. Many cultures are familiar with the flute or other instruments that are played by blowing through a wooden tube. If no such instrument exists, then translators can say “those who played musical instruments for a funeral” or, as in Good News Translation, “musicians for the funeral.” See also flute players.
Men playing flutes (source: Louise Bass (c) British and Foreign Bible Society 1994)
In Hebrew verses 8-9 are in the form of prose, which distinguishes them from verses 5-7 and verses 10-24. Some translators see these verses as an interruption. New Jerusalem Bible, for example, puts them in parentheses.
For says the LORD, see 1.8. Many translators move this expression to the beginning of the sentence. See Good News Translation.
The LORD of hosts: See 2.19.
I will break the yoke from off their neck, and I will burst their bonds: For the imagery of breaking a yoke and bursting bonds, see 2.20; 28.11. Here the image is of the LORD freeing the people from the power of Babylon where they are slaves. Their neck … their bonds represents the Greek and Old Latin versions; Hebrew has “your neck … your bonds.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project concludes that the shift from “your” to “their” is an attempt to ease the reading of the Hebrew text and prefers “your.”
Strangers (see 5.19) is best understood as “foreigners” (Revised English Bible, Good News Translation).
The shift from “make a servant of him” (Hebrew) to make servants of them may be regarded as translational rather than textual, since “him” may be taken as a reference back to “Jacob” in verse 7, and so reflect a collective usage.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
The cry of the mourning mother is followed by a cry of another kind, that of the people for their sin, which is closely bound to 3.21-25, where there is also a play on the word “turn.”
I have heard translates an intensive form in Hebrew, “hearing I have heard.” For this reason, Bright renders “I have heard it, I have heard it” and New American Bible “I hear, I hear.” Revised English Bible renders the force of the two verbs by “I listened intently” and New Jerusalem Bible “I have indeed heard.” But other versions have not felt that this intensive form needs to be or can be reflected naturally.
Bemoaning: The root meaning of the verb is “shake”; its first occurrence is in 4.1, where Revised Standard Version renders “waver.” The form here, however, is a reflexive form that intensifies the meaning: “rocking in his grief” (New English Bible); “grieving” (New Jerusalem Bible).
Chastened: See 6.8, where Revised Standard Version has “warned.” Renderings such as “disciplined,” “tamed,” or “taught to obey” (Good News Translation) are probably better than “flogged” of New Jerusalem Bible.
Untrained is better rendered “unbroken” (Revised English Bible) or “untamed” (New American Bible). The picture is that of a cow, literally “a young bull,” which is not yet broken to the plow.
Bring us back: This is from the causative stem of the verb “turn” or “turn back.” The verb occurs frequently in Jeremiah, including the passive form, which also occurs here, rendered by Revised Standard Version as may be restored. New American Bible renders the two verbs as “If you allow me, I will return” and Revised English Bible as “Bring me back and let me return.” Since the reference is to the nation, Good News Translation renders with a plural: “Bring us back; we are ready to return to you.”
For thou art the LORD my God: The relationship shown by for seems to be “We are ready to come back to you, since you are the LORD our God” or “We are ready to come back to you because that is where we should be, with you the LORD our God.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
I signed the deed is literally “I wrote in the book,” which may mean either “I signed the deed” (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible) or “I wrote out the deed” (New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). If no term is available to render deed, translators can say “the paper to say that I had bought it.”
Sealed: If this custom is not known, translators can use an expression like “closed it with wax and put my personal mark on it.”
Got witnesses can be “had people write that what I wrote was true” or “had other people write that they had seen me write these things in this way.”
Scales; that is, balance scales.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
