7then I will cut Israel off from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a taunt among all peoples.
The Greek and Hebrew that are translated as “consecration” or “consecrate” in English is translated in Poqomchi’ as “set apart” (when applying to a ritual not to a moral status). (Source: Robert Bascom)
In Newari it is translated as “make holy” (source: Newari Back Translation) and in Kwere as “put to holy work” when it refers to making someone or something suitable for priestly duties, when it refers to individual consecration outside of the priestly duty, “offer (yourselves) for my sake” is also used. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 9:7:
Kupsabiny: “I shall chase away the people of Israel from this land that I gave them. And also, I shall reject this house which I have set aside/dedicated so that I be worshipped in it. Then, the people of other nations shall be despising/looking down upon Israel and go around mocking them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “I will drive them out of the land that I have given to Israel and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. The people will laugh at them, people will curse them, taunt them and make fun of their names.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I will-cause- you (plur.) -to-leave from the land that I gave to you (plur.), and I will-forsake this temple that I have-chosen as a place which where I will-be-honored. Then Israel will-be-mocked and laughed-at by all the people.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “I will remove my Israeli people from the land that I have given to them. I will also abandon this temple that I have set apart/dedicated to be the place where people should worship me. Then people everywhere will despise the people of Israel and make fun of them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them: The land that God had given to the Israelites is, of course, the Promised Land. Frequently the Old Testament uses the expression “to cut off [someone]” as an act of God’s punishment upon individuals or nations. In these instances the verb is used figuratively to mean “to eliminate” or “to separate from.” In this context the verb refers to driving the people of Israel out of the land into exile and does not mean that God will kill them. Compare New Jerusalem Bible: “I shall banish Israel from the country which I have given them.” Since Israel here refers to the nation and not to an individual, Good News Translation says “my people Israel.”
Regarding the verb consecrated, see the comments on 1 Kgs 8.64.
For my name: See the comments on the words “for the name of the LORD” in 1 Kgs 3.2.
I will cast out of my sight: This same expression occurs in Jer 15.1, where it is translated by Revised Standard Version as “Send them [the Israelites] out of my sight.” The verb cast out is used figuratively here to mean that God will want nothing more to do with the Temple. Cast out has also been translated “repudiate” (New American Bible), “reject” (New Living Translation), “renounce” (Revised English Bible), and “disown” (New Jerusalem Bible). Out of my sight is literally “away from my face.” In some languages this may be rendered more naturally as “away from my eyes.”
Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples: Regarding the Hebrew word rendered proverb, see the comments on 1 Kgs 4.32. The English word byword means a proverbial saying or something that is frequently said, usually with a negative sense when applied to people. The Hebrew noun rendered byword comes from a root meaning “to sharpen” and refers to a sharp taunt. La Bible Pléiade renders this second noun “an object of sarcasm,” while International Children’s Bible has “a joke” and De Vries translates “a taunt.” In this context both of these nouns must be understood as referring to negative comments. Common language translations often rephrase these words and use verbal expressions in an attempt to express this negative feature. Compare “People everywhere will ridicule Israel and treat her with contempt” (Good News Translation) and “all peoples will snigger at Israel and mock her” (Bible en français courant). Contemporary English Version says “people everywhere will think this nation is only a joke and will make fun of it.”
As in 1 Kgs 4.34, all peoples refers to all other nations, not including the Israelites. New American Bible says “all nations.” Others may prefer to say “all non-Israelite peoples.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
9:7a then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them,
then I will uproot Israel from the face/surface of the land I have given them. -or-
then I will remove⌊the people of⌋ Israel from the land I have given them. -or-
In that case I will send the people of Israel away from the land that I gave them,
9:7b and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name.
I will cast out of my sight this house that I made holy for myself. -or-
I will leave/ignore this temple that I made/declared to be my own holy house. -or-
and I will look away from this house/temple that I had set apart for my own ⌊use/dwelling⌋.
9:7c Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.
And Israel will be/become ⌊nothing but⌋ an object of scorn and mockery among/for the ⌊other⌋ nations. -or-
Then Israel will be mocked and ridiculed by all the ⌊foreign/pagan⌋ peoples. -or-
Then all the ⌊foreign⌋ peoples will speak of Israel with contempt and laughter.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.