complete verse (Ezekiel 27:23)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 27:23:

  • Kupsabiny: “You did business with the people of Harran, Kanneh, Eden, Sheba, Assyria, and Kilmad.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘ ‘Those from-Haran, Cane, Eden, the merchants in Sheba, Ahsur, and Kilmad also made-business with you.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Men came from Haran, Canneh, Eden, Sheba, Asshur and Kilmad in Mesopotamia with their goods.” (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 27:23

Haran, Canneh, Eden, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you: Haran was an Assyrian city about 500 kilometers (310 miles) from Tyre. Canneh was an Assyrian trade center, but we do not know precisely where it was. Eden (not the garden of Eden of Genesis, but a Syrian city-state called Beth-eden) lay to the west of Haran. Asshur was the capital city of Assyria, which stood on the Tigris River about 800 kilometers (500 miles) from Tyre. The city of Chilmad (“Kilmad” in New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) is not known, but some translations have changed the Hebrew text here slightly to read “all Media” (Revised English Bible, Targum; similarly Moffatt). Although this is an attractive solution, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends that translators retain the Hebrew text by saying “Chilmad” or “Kilmad.” All of these places were northeast of Tyre. Comparison with Good News Translation indicates that Revised Standard Version lacks the phrase “the merchants of Sheba” (most other translations also include it). Revised Standard Version, Moffatt, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch omit this phrase, presumably because it is repeated from verse 22, and Sheba is from quite a different direction than the other places in this verse. However, there is no textual reason to delete the phrase, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends that it be retained.

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 .