sorrow

The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated in English as “painful” or “sorrow” is translated in Huba as “cut the insides.” David Frank explains: “Huba has just one expression that covers both ‘angry’ and ‘sad.’ They don’t make a distinction in their language. I suppose you could say that the term they use means more generically, ‘strong emotional reaction’ (source: David Frank in this blog post ). Similarly, in Bariai it is “the interior is severed/cut” (source: Bariai Back Translation).

In Noongar it is translated as koort-warra or “heart bad.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)

In Enlhet it is translated as “going aside of the innermost.” “Innermost” or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind (for other examples see here). (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )

See also grieving / sorrowful.

Translation commentary on 2 Esdras 7:117

For what good is it to all that they live in sorrow now and expect punishment after death?: Ezra sees life as a hopeless proposition, if lives are hard in this world, and we can look forward to nothing after death but punishment. This rhetorical question may be expressed as a strong statement (see the second model below). The logical connector For may be left implied (so Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version). Alternative models for this verse are:

• What good is life if we live in misery now, and can expect nothing but punishment after we die?

• It does us no good if we live in misery now, and can expect nothing but punishment after we die.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.