enemy / foe

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible as “friends of front,” i.e., the person standing opposite you in a battle. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

In North Alaskan Inupiatun it is translated with a term that implies that it’s not just someone who hates you, but one who wants to do you harm (Source: Robert Bascom), in Tarok as ukpa ìkum or “companion in war/fighting,” and in Ikwere as nye irno m or “person who hates me” (source for this and one above: Chuck and Karen Tessaro in this newsletter ).

complete verse (Exodus 23:27)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 23:27:

  • Kupsabiny: “I will terrify the people of those countries and make them go against one another. I will make them so afraid that they will flee from you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The terror of the Lord shall fall upon all the people who oppose you. I will throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will chase after all your enemies before you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘I will-make-(them)-afraid and will-throw-into-confusion your enemies who you (plur.) will-face and they will-run-away.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “‘Whichever tribes see you, I will make so that they are greatly afraid and so confuse their heads so that they’re crazy here and there. And all your enemies will turn their backs to you and then flee and go.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “I will send [your direction] my fear it precede for you, in order that nation other which you will meet with them, head it disappear them, so that they flee out from you.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “I will cause the people who oppose you to become very afraid of me. I will cause the people whom you fight against to become very confused. And then I will cause them to turn around and run away from you.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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 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.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Exod 23:27

I will send my terror before you really means “Terror of me I will send ahead of you [singular].” This is the same word used in 15.16, but here Yahweh is calling it my terror. Good News Translation says it clearly: “I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me.” Contemporary English Version has “I will terrify those nations,” with “nations” referring back to all the peoples mentioned in verse 23. And I will throw into confusion is the same word used in 14.24, where Revised Standard Version translates it as “discomfit.” It really means to “throw into panic” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New American Bible, Revised English Bible).

All the people against whom you shall come is literally “all the people whom you [singular] enter among them.” Good News Translation interprets this as “people against whom you fight,” since the words for terror and confusion are terms that suggest the idea of “holy war.” (See the comment on “holy war” at 14.14.) But this may be too strong a statement, for the Israelites were not necessarily the ones who started a fight. New Jerusalem Bible has “all the peoples you encounter,” and Translator’s Old Testament has “all the people whom you meet.” Contemporary English Version has “and make your enemies so confused that….”

And I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you is an idiomatic expression. Literally it says “and I will give all your [singular] enemies unto you the back of neck.” This does not mean that the enemies will ignore or snub them, but rather that they will “turn and run from you” (Good News Translation). New American Bible has “turn from you in flight.” Translator’s Old Testament suggests that this can mean “submit” in the sense of bowing low and showing their backs. But this not a widely-held view. The word for enemies is the same word used in verses 4 and 22.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• I will make those nations terrified of you, and cause those who hate you to become so confused that they will run away.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .