city has been struck

The Hebrew in Ezekiel 33:21 that in English versions is rendered as “Jerusalem has been struck” is translated into Afar as Yarusalaam makko tekkeh: “The will of God has happened (on) Jerusalem.”

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Ezek 33:21)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun.

Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jerusalem .

survive / escape / save

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “survive,” “escape,” “save,” or similar in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) in these verses with pulumuka, describing someone whose life was in danger but who has freed himself or herself. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (Ezekiel 33:21)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 33:21:

  • Kupsabiny: “And on the fifth day of the tenth month in the twelfth year while being foreigners in another country, a man came to me who had fled from Jerusalem and said to me, ‘The city is destroyed!’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “On the fifth day of the tenth month, on the twelfth year of our (excl.) captivity, there was a man who was-able-to-escape from Jerusalem who came to me and said, ‘The city of Jerusalem is now destroyed!’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Almost twelve years after we had been taken to Babylonia, on the fifth day of the tenth month of that year, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me in Babylon and said, ‘Jerusalem has been captured!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 33:21

In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month: Again Ezekiel carefully records the date of this prophecy (compare 1.2; 8.1; 20.1; 24.1; 29.1, 17; 30.20; 31.1; 32.1). He received it from God almost twelve years after the Babylonians had taken him and many other Israelites as prisoners. In the twelfth year means that it was at least eleven years but not yet twelve. Contemporary English Version says “Twelve years after,” which is incorrect. A good model for the whole date is “Eleven years after the Babylonians took Israel [or, us] into captivity, on the fifth day of the tenth month.” When translating the date, translators should follow the most natural order of recording dates in their own language. For those translators who include footnotes in their Bibles, it is appropriate to indicate that this date is probably January 8, 585 B.C. This is almost three years after the siege of Jerusalem began (see 24.1), and about five months after the fall of Jerusalem (see the comments on 24.27). Instead of In the twelfth year, some Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions read “In the eleventh year.” For this same textual problem see the comments on 32.1.

A man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said: A fugitive from Jerusalem told Ezekiel about the fall of Jerusalem. A man who had escaped renders the same Hebrew term translated “a fugitive” in 24.26 (see the comments there). Came to me means the fugitive arrived in Babylonia where Ezekiel and the other exiles were.

The city has fallen: The city is Jerusalem. The city has fallen does not mean that it fell down to the ground, but that it was captured and destroyed by its enemies (compare International Children’s Bible “Jerusalem has been defeated”). Those languages that need to specify who destroyed it may say “[The army of] Nebuchadnezzar has destroyed the city [of Jerusalem].”

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 .