upper lip

The Hebrew that is translated as “upper lip” in English is translated in Elhomwe with “mouth,” since “upper lip” is not well understood. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

mourn

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “mourn” or similar in English is translated in Newari as “have one’s heart broken” or “have a bursting heart” (source: Newari Back Translation).

In Cherokee it is translated as “going around feeling badly” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16).

complete verse (Ezekiel 24:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 24:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “When those children of yours are dead, you shall also do like Ezekiel did. Do not grieve or put your hands over your head while mourning or eat the food of mourning.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And you will-do what Ezekiel has-done. You will- not -cover your face, and you will- not -eat the food which the ones who-mourn for the dead eat.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When that happens, you will do like I have done: You will not cover the lower part of your faces, or eat the kinds of food that people who are mourning usually eat.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 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 24:22 - 24:23

And you shall do as I have done …: Verses 22-23 are God’s words to Ezekiel’s fellow exiles. They imply that God did not mourn for his dearest treasure, Jerusalem, in the same way that Ezekiel did not mourn for his wife when she died. Most scholars and many translations do not accept this picture of God doing the same things that people do, and they reinterpret the text to make these words refer to Ezekiel. Some translations move verse 24 to the end of verse 21, and assume that verses 22-23 are the words of Ezekiel (so New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Others change the pronoun I in the first sentence of verse 22 to refer to Ezekiel instead of God; for example, New International Reader’s Version renders this sentence as “So do what Ezekiel did” (similarly Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). This approach is understandable because, up to now, there has been no mention of God wanting to mourn for the Temple. The only mention of mourning has been God’s command to Ezekiel not to mourn for his wife. But against this approach is what the text seems to say quite plainly. There can be no doubt that God is the speaker in verses 21 and 24, and there is no hint that the speaker changes at verse 22. Therefore we must assume that, just as God told Ezekiel not to mourn openly for his beloved wife, God himself did not mourn over the destruction of his beloved Jerusalem and Temple. It is a stunningly vivid picture of God’s great pain at having to punish the people for their sin and disobedience.

You shall not cover your lips: See verse 17.

Nor eat the bread of mourners: See verse 17.

Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet: The language here is similar to that in verse 17 (see the comments there). Instead of “binding on” turbans and “putting on” sandals, the text says simply they shall be on. There is no difference in meaning.

You shall not mourn or weep: See verse 16.

But you shall pine away in your iniquities: The Hebrew verb rendered pine away is translated “waste away” in 4.17, where it referred to the physical suffering of the people during the siege of Jerusalem (see the comments there). Here it refers to the spiritual distress of the exiles when they hear of the destruction of the city and they remember how their own sins contributed to it. So a good rendering for this clause is “But you will be greatly distressed because of your sins.”

And groan to one another: This clause balances the private mourning allowed for Ezekiel in verse 17. The Hebrew verb for groan, which sometimes refers to the low growling of a lion, suggests that the mourning will be quiet and subdued, not the loud wailing of conventional mourning rites. New International Version provides a good model for this clause, saying “and groan among yourselves.”

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 .