complete verse (Ezekiel 26:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 26:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “(They) shall tear down that wall of yours and scatter your guard places. I shall break to pieces the things of where they were destroying so that there remains an open, bare place.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They will-destroy her stone-walls and pull-down her towers. They will-scrape her land until only stone will-remain.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Their soldiers will destroy the walls around Tyre and tear down its towers. Tyre will become a place where people from many nations steal valuable things, and then the city will be completely destroyed. Then they will scrape away the rubble and cause the city to become a bare rock.” (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 26:4

They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: The pronoun They refers to the attacking armies of the nations. Ancient cities were surrounded by thick walls, usually made of stone or earth, to keep enemies out. The towers may have been part of these walls, or they may have been free-standing high buildings inside the city where people could stand and see if enemies were coming. Translators may render this sentence as “They will destroy the walls around the city of Tyre and the high watchtowers.”

And I will scrape her soil from her, and make her a bare rock: After the invading armies break down and destroy the walls and towers of Tyre, God will remove all that remains and leave only a bare rock. Her soil refers to “her rubble” (New International Version), that is, all that remains of the destroyed city. New Century Version renders I will scrape her soil from her as “I will also scrape away her ruins.” Another acceptable model is “I will scrape away all the dirt [or, earth] where the city was.” The bare rock is a shining, dazzling rocky outcrop (see 24.7). Here it depicts a rocky island, wet from the sea water that splashes over it and shining in the sun. It shows that Tyre will be completely destroyed. Translators may say “outcrop of rocks with nothing on it.”

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 .