Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 24:13:
Kupsabiny: “Jerusalem, your sin destroyed you. I tried to cleanse you, but you do not become clean until maybe you wait until when I have finished my anger on you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘Jerusalem, your dirty deed is the one-who-defiled/[lit. stained] you. I tried to clean you, but you do not want to-be-cleaned. Therefore you will-remain dirty until my anger against you is not vanished.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The rustin the pot represents your immoral behavior. I tried to cleanse you from your wicked behavior, but you did not allow me to do that. So you will not be cleansedfrom the guilt of your sin untilI have punished you and I am no longer angry.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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.
Its rust is your filthy lewdness: As mentioned above, Revised Standard Version places the last Hebrew word (rendered Its rust) of verse 12 here. This is unnecessary and skews the meaning of this verse. The first clause of this verse in Hebrew reads literally “In your filthiness is lewdness” (New King James Version , New American Standard Bible). So this verse begins by identifying the filthiness, that is, the scum on the inside of the pot, as the lewdness of the people of Jerusalem. For the Hebrew word rendered lewdness, see 16.27, where it is translated “lewd behavior.” Here it may be expressed as “[sexually] immoral actions” (Good News Translation). A model for this whole clause is “That scum [in the pot] is your sexual immorality.”
The rest of this verse describes how God tried to make the people of Jerusalem clean, but because they refused to obey him, he decided to punish them completely.
Because I would have cleansed you means God wanted to or tried to make the people clean. New Century Version says “I wanted to cleanse you,” and New Living Translation has “I tried to cleanse you.” The cleansing here refers to ritual purity and freedom from sinful activity. For more detail on how to translate terms relating to ritual purity and impurity, see the comments on 4.13. Here translators may render cleansed you as “make you fit to worship me” or “make you fit to be in my presence.”
And you were not cleansed from your filthiness means the people refused to let God cleanse them. The conjunction and is better rendered “but” (New Century Version) to express the contrast here. New International Reader’s Version translates this clause as “But you would not let me make you pure.”
You shall not be cleansed any more till I have satisfied my fury upon you means the people will remain filthy until God has punished them in his anger and has calmed down. Fury is another word for “anger” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible; compare Contemporary English Version “fierce anger”). For I have satisfied my fury upon you, see 5.13, where a Hebrew expression with the same verb is rendered “I will vent my fury upon them.” New International Version says “my wrath against you has subsided,” and New International Reader’s Version has “my burning anger against you has calmed down.”
A model for this verse is:
• That scum that made you unclean was your sexual immorality. I wanted to make you clean [or, fit to worship me], but you would not let me. So you will remain unclean until I have used up all my anger on you.
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 .
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