complete verse (Daniel 2:43)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 2:43:

  • Kupsabiny: “Just as iron is mixed with clay, the people too shall mix through marriage like iron and clay.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “So they will also be a mixed nation like the mixed iron and clay that you saw. And just as it is not possible to mix iron and clay, it will also not be possible to mix them together.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The mixture/combination of iron and clay also means that the leaders/[lit. heads] of these kingdoms will-unite through intermarriages. But their unity will not be for a long-time, just-like the iron and clay can not possibly be-mixed.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The mixture of iron and clay in the statue shows also that the rulers of those kingdoms that separate from each other will try to form alliances with each other as a result of members of the royal families of those kingdoms marrying each other. But that will not succeed, just as iron and clay do not stick together.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

behold / look / see (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God or a person or persons to be greatly honored, the honorific prefix go- (御 or ご) can be used, as in go-ran (ご覧), a combination of “behold / see” (ran) and the honorific prefix go-.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also Japanese benefactives (goran).

Translation commentary on Daniel 2:43

In this verse, as in verse 41, it may be well to remind the reader that this is a part of the interpretation, by saying something like “This means…,” following the Good News Translation model.

Miry clay: the idea here is “baked clay of the earth.” While some versions have “muddy clay” (An American Translation and Moffatt), others translate “clay tile” (New Jerusalem Bible), “common clay” (New English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible), or simply “clay” (Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version, and Revised English Bible). The emphasis here seems to be on the ordinariness and weakness of the material used. See the comments on verse 41 above.

They: the third person plural pronoun most likely here refers to the kings or rulers of the empire. This is probably a reference to the intermarriage of the Ptolemies and the Seleucids in 194 B.C. However, New English Bible and New International Version seem to take it more generally as referring to “men” or “people.”

Mix with one another in marriage: literally “will mix themselves with the seed of men” (compare King James Version). This is a kind of veiled reference to attempts at political alliances by intermarriage between ruling families. In order to avoid misunderstanding it will probably be necessary to follow one of the following models of translation: “try to unite their kingdoms through marriage,” “join together by marriage between opposing families,” “seal their alliances by intermarriage” (New American Bible), or “shall intermarry in that kingdom” (Moffatt).

But they will not hold together: other ways of saying this are “but these alliances will not be stable,” “their coming together will not last,” or “but they shall not stay united” (New American Bible). Stated in another way without using negative forms, this may be “but they will fall apart.”

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .