The Greek and Hebrew phrases that are often translated as “birds of the air” in English “refer to the undomesticated song birds or wild birds, to be distinguished in a number of languages from domesticated fowl. In Tzeltal these former are ‘field birds’.” (source: Bratcher / Nida)
Q’anjob’al also uses an established term for non-domesticated birds. Newberry and Kittie Cox (in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. ) explain: “Qʼanjobʼal has two distinct terms, one to identify domesticated birds and the other non-domesticated birds. The additional descriptive phrase ‘of the air’ seemed entirely misleading, for Qʼanjobʼal speakers had never heard of such creatures. Actually, of course, all that was necessary was the term for non-domesticated birds, for that is precisely the meaning of the Biblical expression.”
In Elhomwe they are just translated as “birds” or “birds of the bush” (i.e., wild birds) to “not give the impression that these are special type of birds.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Low German translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006: “steppe”
Yakan: “the lonely place” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a land where no people lived” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “the place with no inhabitants” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Cherokee: inage or “far away downstream” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16)
Matumbi uses various term: lubele (desert, sandy place without water) — used in John 11:54, lupu’ngu’ti (a place where no people live, can be a scrub land, a forest, or a savanna) — used in Mark 1:3 et al.), and mwitu (a forest, a place where wild animals live) — used in Mark 1:13 et al.) (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Chichewa Contemporary translation (2002/2016): chipululu: a place uninhabited by people with thick forest and bush (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Adioukrou: loj or “savannah” — “land that is not village, nor forest, nor field (source: Hill 2006)
Note that in Luke 15:4, usually a term is used that denotes pastoral land, such as “eating/grazing-place,” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated in English as “wild animal” or similar is translated in Newari as “animal that lives in the jungle.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 29:5:
Kupsabiny: “I shall take you and those fish and scatter you in the desert where there is no one who would bury you. Vultures and (other) animals shall eat you (plur.).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I will-throw you and the fish to the desert, and you will-lay-down on the ground that no one will-take and will-bury you. I will-have- you -eaten by the wild animals and birds.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “I will leave you and all those fish to die in the desert; you will fall onto the ground, and your corpse will not be picked up and buried, because I have declared that your flesh will be food for the wild animals and birds.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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.
And I will cast you forth into the wilderness: After pulling the creature out of the Nile River, God threatens to throw it into the desert. The Hebrew here actually says “And I will leave/abandon you in the desert” (similarly New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible). This implies that God will take the creature out into the desert and leave it there, so many translations use verbs that have the sense of “throwing away” (for example, “throw” [Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version], “cast” [Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, New American Bible], “fling” [New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Moffatt], and “drop” [Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible]). If possible, it is best for translators to choose verbs that mean both “abandon” and “throw away.” They may render this clause as “I will carry you out into the desert and leave you there.” The wilderness refers to the desert area of Egypt, where no rain falls, where nothing grows and no one lives (see 6.14).
You and all the fish of your streams refers to the creature and all the fish that are sticking to it (see the previous verse). Good News Translation combines this line with the previous one, saying “I will throw you and all those fish into the desert.” Other languages may find this model helpful.
You shall fall upon the open field does not mean that God will drop the creature from high in the air, nor that it will stumble and fall down to the ground. Rather, this clause refers to the way it will die. It will die in the open. Good News Translation says “Your body will fall on the ground,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “You shall be left lying in the open.” Another possible model is “I will leave you lying [to die] on the ground [or, in the open].”
And not be gathered and buried: Because the creature will die in the open, no one will come to pick up the body and bury it. To die unburied was considered one of the worst things that could happen to a person. For languages that do not use passive verbs, this line may be rendered “and no one will come take your body to bury it.” Instead of not be gathered and buried, the Hebrew text has “not be collected and gathered” (Anchor Bible). The focus of the two synonymous Hebrew verbs here is clearly for burial in this context, so the second one may be rendered “buried.”
To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the air I have given you as food: Since the body of the creature will not be buried, it will lie in the open until animals and birds come and eat it. The beasts of the earth refers to the animals that live on the ground, and the birds of the air refers to the birds that fly in the sky. Translators need not be so specific, but should use the normal words in their language for “animals” and “birds” (so Good News Translation). Some translations usefully specify beasts of the earth as “wild animals” (Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible), but this distinction should only be made if the language demands it. Good News Translation helpfully reorders this sentence by saying “I will give it [your body] to the birds and animals for food.”
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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.