complete verse (Ezekiel 20:29)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 20:29:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then I asked where is this raised place that you are going to?’ All those places are called to this day ‘where it is raised.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I asked them, ‘What is really that high place which you went-to?’ (Until now that place is called ‘place-of-worship on the high place’.)” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then I asked them, ‘Who told you to worship at a shrine like this, here on this hilltop?’ So they are still called ‘hilltop shrines’.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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.

(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 20:29

I said to them, What is the high place to which you go?: When the Israelites began disobeying God in Canaan, he confronted them with this question. The question implies that the people were doing something wrong. A high place was a pagan shrine in the hills (see 6.3). Although it is singular, it refers to any shrine that the people visited, so it is acceptable to translate it in plural (so Good News Translation with “high places” and Contemporary English Version with “local shrines”). In some languages it may be necessary to include an answer to the question as follows: “I said to them, ‘Why are you going to those high places?’ They answered, ‘To make sacrifices.’ ”

So its name is called Bamah to this day: This clause is a popular explanation of the name Bamah, the Hebrew term for a high place. Here there is a play on words, because Bamah sounds like the Hebrew word for “those who go” (baʾim; see Good News Translation footnote). Most languages will not be able to reflect this wordplay (compare Moffatt, which renders the question as “What is the high place you hie to?”), and it may be necessary to include a footnote to explain it. To this day shows that the people continued to call these shrines Bamah right up to the time of Ezekiel.

Revised Standard Version puts parentheses around the whole verse to suggest that it is an aside, an interruption to the theme of the chapter. In fact, it is only the last clause that is an aside, so the parentheses should only enclose that clause. Here are two models for the verse:

• So I said to them, “What are the worship places where you go?” (So they are called Bamah, which means “worship place,” right up to this day.)

• So I said to them, “Why are you going to those high places?” They answered, “To make sacrifices.” (So they are called Bamah, which means “high place,” right up to this day.)

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 .