complete verse (Ezekiel 34:26)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 34:26:

  • Kupsabiny: “I shall bless them and all the areas/sides that surround my holy mountain. I shall give showers of blessing at the right times.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I will-bless them and the places around my holy mountain. I will-send them rain at the right time as my blessing to them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I will bless them, and I will bless the places close to my sacred hill. I will bless them by sending them rain showers at the right season; they will be showers to bless them.” (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 34:26

And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing: The meaning of this clause is unclear. Many translations take the pronoun them to refer to the people, for example, Good News Translation says “I will bless them and let them live around my sacred hill” (similarly Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Christian Community Bible, Moffatt). However, it is difficult to understand how the Hebrew expression rendered make them … a blessing can mean “bless them.” It is better to take the pronoun them to refer to “the wilderness” and “the woods” of the previous verse, which fit well with the places round about my hill. My hill refers to Mount Zion on which Jerusalem stood. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch combines the pronoun them with the places round about my hill, saying “the whole country around my mountain,” which is a good model. One of the core meanings for the Hebrew root of the word rendered blessing is “to be fertile.” God promises to make the whole area around Jerusalem, even the parched and previously uninhabitable areas, a good place to live.

And I will send down the showers in their season: To bring about this transformation of the land, God will send rain when needed. New Century Version says “I will cause the rains to come when it is time,” New International Reader’s Version has “I will send down rain at the right time,” and New Living Translation translates “And in the proper season I will send the showers they need.”

They shall be showers of blessing means the rain will make things grow in the area around Jerusalem. However, here blessing is probably ambiguous, with some of its normal meaning of bringing good results for the people. Translators may find it difficult to incorporate both elements of the meaning.

Models for this verse are:

• I will send rain at the right time and make the whole country around the mountain where Jerusalem stands fertile. This good rain will produce many good things from the land for the people.

• They will live in those areas and all the area around my hill where Jerusalem is. I will make these places good for them to live in because I will send them rain at the right time and make the land fertile.

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 .