fat, oil

The different Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Ezekiel 16:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 16:18:

  • Kupsabiny: “You took those beautiful clothes that I gave you and dressed those idols with them. You took also the oil and the things smelling sweet that I had given you and gave to those idols.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You clothed these little-gods/false-gods with your embroidered clothes, and you offered to them my oil and incense.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You took some of your embroidered clothes to put on those idols, and you burned oil and incense in front of them to honor them.” (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 Ezekiel 16:18

And you took your embroidered garments to cover them: For your embroidered garments, see verse 10. The girl used these clothes to cover them, that is, the male statues. Either she used the clothes to dress them, or more likely she draped the beautiful material over them.

And set my oil and my incense before them: This clause describes the way the people of Jerusalem used the sacred oil and incense that they should have used to worship God to worship the idols instead. For oil see verse 13; for incense see 8.11. New Century Version provides a good model here, saying “You gave my oil and incense as an offering to them.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .