complete verse (Ezekiel 26:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 26:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those horses will trample all the roads of that city, kill your people and crush your amazing pillars.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “All your (plur.) streets will-be-trampled by his horses. He will-cause- your residents -to-be-killed by the sword, and your strong pillars will-fall-down.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The horses will trample all of the streetsof the city with their hooves. The soldiers will kill the people with their swords; and they will cause your strong pillars to collapse/fall to the ground.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

2nd person pronoun with low register (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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 26:11

With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets means “His troops will ride through your streets” (Contemporary English Version). Trampling the streets under the hoofs of horses gives an impression of the arrogance of the conquerors, riding wherever they like, but it is not necessary to retain the picture in all its detail.

He will slay your people with the sword: See Ezek 26.8. Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers will kill the people of Tyre with their swords.

And your mighty pillars will fall to the ground: Your mighty pillars is literally “the pillars of your strength.” This phrase may refer to the “strong columns” (Contemporary English Version) of the buildings of Tyre, or to the “famous pillars” (New Living Translation [1996]) of the Temple of Heracles in Tyre. Most translations take them to refer to the large, strong pillars and walls of which Tyre was built. When these fall down to the ground, the city will be totally destroyed. A better interpretation is that these pillars refer to the “sacred pillars” or “memorial stones” that people set up to commemorate a significant event (such as a great victory), to mark an important treaty, or to keep alive the memory of an ancestor. Although these sacred pillars may have been quite large, they mainly had a symbolic or spiritual significance that pointed to maintaining the continued security of the city. According to this interpretation of pillars, this clause means Tyre’s security will be finished and gone. Translators who follow this interpretation may say “The sacred stones that you depended on [to protect you] will be completely gone.”

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 .