Translation commentary on Jeremiah 42:13 - 42:15

Many translations begin a new paragraph at verse 13. Bible en français courant keeps the flow of the passage with “Jeremiah continued.”

In order to achieve a more logical order and at the same time to omit unnecessary repetition, Good News Translation places verses 13-15 together. Bible en français courant retains the order of the verses, but rearranges the clauses in verse 13:

• Jeremiah continued: “Suppose that you refuse to obey the orders of the Lord your God and that you say, ‘No, we will no longer live in this land, 14….’ ”

Another possibility is:

• But if you decide to disobey the LORD your God and say, “We will not stay here in this land” [or, by saying that you will not stay here in this land], 14….

However, we recommend that translators break down these verses into short, clear sentences that express all the meaning of the passage, that they sort out how these relate to each other, and then translate them together in as natural a discourse as possible. See more discussion below.

Disobeying the voice of the LORD your God (see verse 6 and 40.3) is the equivalent of “disobeying the LORD your God.”

And saying at the beginning of verse 14 marks the continuation of the direct discourse begun in verse 13, and so it may be omitted, as in Bible en français courant. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders 13 and 14 as follows:

• 13 But you must obey the Lord your God and not leave this land. 14 You must not say: We will go to Egypt….

See war: Languages have different ways of describing this experience; in English it is more natural to say “experience war” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or “face war” (Good News Translation).

The sound of the trumpet was a signal for war, as Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch indicates: “war trumpet.” Good News Translation makes a slight shift, saying “the call to battle.”

Be hungry for bread: In the Jewish culture bread, made from either barley or wheat, was the main source of food. If translators retain the form here, readers may miss the meaning. “Go hungry” (Good News Translation) is therefore better in most cultures.

Then at the start of verse 15 is a continuation of the if clause of verse 13 (But if you say …). For most readers the connection will have been lost, unless careful attention is given to transitionals within the discourse. Good News Translation handles this by moving the if much closer in the sentence to the then clause: “But you … must not disobey … You must not say … If you say this, then….” As noted above, Bible en français courant begins Jeremiah’s words to the people with “Suppose you say….” This sentence is continued to the end of verse 14. Then verse 15 begins “Then….” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch begins verse 14 with “You must not say,” which is followed immediately by what the people are warned against saying; then verse 15 opens with “In this case….” Translators can also make this relationship clear with a construction similar to this:

• 13 If you say … 14 and say, “No, we will go to Egypt … and live there,” 15 then, if you say all this, here is what the LORD says to you, you of Judah who are left….

Hear the word of the LORD: See 2.4.

Remnant: See the comments at verse 2 and 6.9.

Thus says the LORD of hosts: See 2.2, 19.

If you set your faces is an idiom that means “If you are determined” (New American Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation) or “If you insist” (New Living Translation). The idiom occurs again in 44.12. See also 21.10; Luke 9.51.

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 44:12

Verses 12-14 expand on how the LORD will “cut off [or destroy] all Judah.” The remnant are those who have gone to … Egypt to live (verses 12 and 14). They will be punished just like those who were back in Jerusalem (verse 13). Since they are the people Jeremiah is actually bringing the LORD’s message to, they may be addressed as “you” if a translation is using direct speech. Contemporary English Version, for example, begins this verse by saying, “There were only a few of you left in Judah, and you decided to go to Egypt. But you will die….”

I will take is handled in different ways. One way is “I will take charge” or “I take in my charge” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Another is to link this verb with be consumed; Good News Translation does this with “I will see to it that all of them are destroyed.”

The remnant of Judah; that is, “the people of Judah who are left” (Good News Translation) or “you people who have come…” (see above).

Set their faces is here used with the meaning of “determined” (see 42.15).

Good News Translation takes the two verbs be consumed and shall fall as equivalent and renders “that all of them are destroyed.” In languages where the passive is not natural, translators can say, for example, “that an enemy destroys them all.”

By the sword and by famine they shall be consumed may be rendered “They will die in warfare or from starvation.” The sword is usually rendered “war” (Good News Translation). See 5.12. Although by the sword and by famine occurs twice in the text, it will be more natural in many languages to use the expression only once, as in Good News Translation.

From the least to the greatest; that is, “all of them from the least important to the most important.” See 6.13.

Execration … horror … curse … taunt: See 42.18.

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 46:10

At this point of the text there is a powerful expression of something that the previous verse does not prepare the reader or hearer for: the judgment that is coming will fall on Egypt—they are the enemies of the LORD who are referred to. In English this calls for at least an expression like “But” (New International Version); and in other languages translators may need to use a more extensive restructuring. Contemporary English Version is a good example of such a restructuring; it begins verse 9 with “Go ahead, Egypt. Tell your chariots and cavalry to attack…,” and then begins this verse with “But the LORD All-Powerful will win this battle and take revenge….”

The day of the Lord GOD of hosts; that is, the day on which the Lord executes judgment on his enemies. Compare 25.30b-31. One way to render this line is to say, for example, “But that day belongs to the Lord, the LORD Almighty” (New International Version). Another is more like Bible en français courant: “But for the Lord, for the God of the universe, it is the awaited day.” For the Lord GOD of hosts, see 2.19.

A day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his foes: These lines may be combined as “the day when the Lord shall take revenge against all of his enemies.”

The sword shall devour … drink its fill of their blood: The reference is to the Lord’s sword, and so Good News Translation renders “His sword….” In what follows, The sword is described as if it were an animal that attacks and devours its enemies (compare 2.30), including their blood (New Living Translation “your blood”). Bible en français courant makes the metaphor into a simile: “The sword is like a monster that devours until it is full, and makes itself drunk on their blood.”

For the Lord … holds a sacrifice: The picture is that of a sacrificial feast in which the worshiper is allowed to eat part of the animal that has been sacrificed. The same idea is conveyed in Isa 34.5-7; Ezek 39.17-20; Zeph 1.7. New Jerusalem Bible expresses this clearly: “for Lord Yahweh Sabaoth is holding a sacrificial feast.” See also Good News Translation “the Almighty sacrifices his victims.”

The north country by the river Euphrates; that is, Babylonia.

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 48:7

The verse begins with For, which shows that it is because the people of Moab trusted in their own efforts and their wealth that they would now be conquered. Translators can say, for example, “Moab, you put your faith in your efforts and your wealth. That is why you, too, will be conquered [or, why an enemy will conquer you].”

The quote of the Moabites calling to each other to flee ended in verse 6. To show that the direct message to Moab continues, Good News Translation has the name “Moab” at the beginning of the verse, which may be helpful for other languages as well.

You trusted in your strongholds and your treasures: Strongholds translates the Septuagint; the standard Hebrew text has “works,” which Good News Translation takes with the meaning of “strength.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project understands “works” in the general sense of “endeavors,” including the diplomatic initiatives and preparations for defense; your treasures would be the medium through which the diplomatic attempts and the defense preparations were financed. Translators can say simply “You trusted in your own endeavors and your wealth [or, your ability to pay].”

Taken; that is, “defeated.” See 38.28.

Chemosh shall go … his princes: Chemosh was the Moabite god. The Moabites were called “people of Chemosh” (48.46; Num 21.29). For readers who may not be familiar with Moabite culture, Good News Translation translates “your god Chemosh.” For exile see “captivity” in 1.3. Here his priests and his princes are clearly the people who help in the service of the god Chemosh. For priests see 1.1; for princes see 1.18. The last part of the verse may need to be rendered by an active construction; for example, “The enemy will carry away as a captive your god Chemosh, as well as the priests and others who serve him.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 48:42

Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people: Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “The nation of Moab will be destroyed, it will be wiped from the earth.”

He magnified himself against the LORD (see verse 26) is rendered “she defied the LORD” by New International Version and “he boasted against the LORD” by New American Bible. The verb literally means “make yourself greater than [someone else].”

Some translators will need to restructure the verse; for example:

• Moab thought it was greater than the LORD, and so now it will be destroyed. It will not even exist as a nation any more.

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 49:27

The content of this verse is very similar to Amos 1.4.

Kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus is better rendered “set the walls of Damascus on fire” (Good News Translation).

Devour is here used of fire and so may be translated “burn down.”

Strongholds is better rendered “palaces” (New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, New American Bible). See 6.5, where Revised Standard Version has “palaces.”

Ben-hadad is the name or title of several kings of Damascus (1Kgs 15.18, 20; 2Kgs 13.24). The name means “son of Hadad,” in which Hadad was a storm god of the ancient world, similar to the Canaanite god Baal.

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 50:20

In those days and in that time: See verse 4. Good News Translation renders “When that time comes,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has simply “Then.”

Says the LORD: See 1.8.

Iniquity shall be sought in Israel, … and sin in Judah, and none shall be found: Iniquity is first used in 2.22, where Revised Standard Version renders “guilt.” Here it is used in parallel with sin (Hebrew has plural “sins”). See 5.25, where both these terms occur for the first time in Jeremiah. This part of the verse may be difficult to translate, since iniquity represents both an act and an event. Moreover, some languages will have difficulty with the passive construction shall be sought. Finally, it may not be possible to distinguish between iniquity and sin in the translator’s language. It may then be necessary to combine these terms and render “you will look for sinful people in Israel, but you will not find any. And nor will you find people committing sin in Judah.”

A remnant: See 6.9. Good News Translation renders the last clause of this verse as “because I will forgive those people whose lives I have spared.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 51:10

Both Good News Translation (“The LORD says, ‘My people shout’ ”) and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (“But the people of Israel and Judah say”) identify the speakers of the words in this verse.

The LORD has brought forth our vindication: There are different ways of interpreting this line. However, Good News Translation (“The LORD has shown that we are in the right”) represents the viewpoint of many versions; for example, “The Lord has judged in our favor” (Bible en français courant), “Yahweh has shown the uprightness of our cause” (New Jerusalem Bible), and “The LORD has brought to light our just cause” (New American Bible).

Zion (see 3.14) is identified as “Mount Zion” by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and it is marked by an asterisk in Bible en français courant to indicate its inclusion in the word list. Good News Translation translates the word as “Jerusalem.” Declare in Zion can either be “tell the news in Jerusalem” or “tell the people in Jerusalem.”

The work of the LORD our God: It will be helpful in many languages to transform this into a construction similar to that of Good News Translation “what the LORD our God has done.” Examples of versions that adopt this restructuring are New Jerusalem Bible (“what Yahweh our God has done”) and New American Bible (“what the LORD, our God, has done”).

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 .