The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “alarmed,” “shaken,” “panicked,” “confounded,” “confused” or similar in English is translated in the Catholic Mandarin Chinese Sigao version with historical Chinese idioms: jīnghuāng shīcuò (驚慌失措 / 惊慌失措) and jīnghuáng shīcuò (驚惶失措 / 惊惶失措): “panicked and at a loss.” (Source: Toshikazu S. Foley in Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies, 2011, p. 45ff.)
complete verse (Ezekiel 32:10)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 32:10:
- Kupsabiny: “What I am going to do to you when my swords flashes in battle will make many people and their kings speechless.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “Many nations whom I will-cause-to-become-afraid of what will-happen to you, as-well-as their kings will-tremble in fear. Each one of them will- surely -tremble in fear if I will-swing my sword to them in times of your destruction.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- English: “I will cause many people to be appalled because of what has happened to you,
and their kings will be horrified and shudder/shake because of your being destroyed,
when I swing my sword in front of them.
At the time that you will be destroyed,
all of them will tremble,
fearing that they also will be killed.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
king
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
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- Piro: “a great one”
- Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
- Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
- Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
- Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
- Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
- Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
- Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
- Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )
See also king (Japanese honorifics).
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 32:10
I will make many peoples appalled at you means the people of many nations will be shocked when they see what happens to Egypt. The Hebrew verb rendered make … appalled refers to a mixture of emotions, including horror, amazement, shock, and fear (see the comments on 3.15, where it is translated “overwhelmed”). Good News Translation provides a good model here, saying “What I do to you will shock many nations,” and so does New International Reader’s Version with “Many nations will be shocked when they see what has happened to you.”
And their kings shall shudder because of you: The leaders of these nations will also be horrified. The Hebrew verb translated shudder includes a mixture of fear and horror (see the comments on 27.35, where it is rendered “are horribly afraid”). A model for this clause is “and their kings will tremble with fear when they see your downfall.”
When I brandish my sword before them: After God destroys Egypt, he will stand waving his sword threateningly at the other nations. Brandish means to “wave” or “swing” (Good News Translation, New Century Version) a sword back and forth. A sword is a long fighting knife (see 5.1). Some languages may find it helpful to place this clause at the beginning of the verse to fit the chronological order better (see the model below).
They shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall: They shall tremble every moment means they will shake with fear continually (see 26.16). The pronoun they refers to the kings who see what is happening to the king of Egypt. Every one for his own life may be rendered “Each [king] will be afraid he is the next to die” (New International Reader’s Version) or “Each will fear that he also is going to die.” On the day of your downfall refers to when God destroys Egypt and its king. New International Reader’s Version says “On the day you fall from power.” Some languages may find it helpful to place this phrase at the beginning of the sentence to fit the chronological order better (see the model below).
A model for this verse is:
• When I swing my sword around in front of the nations [or, threaten the nations with my sword], they will be shocked at what I do to you, and their kings will be very afraid when they see what happens to you. At the time when I destroy you, those kings will shake with fear all the time, because they will be afraid that I will kill them too.
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 .
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