29I will provide for them a splendid vegetation so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land and no longer suffer the insults of the nations.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).
Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).
In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 34:29:
Kupsabiny: “I shall give (them) a land/field that produces much food/crops so that famine shall no longer eat/disturb (them) nor shall other nations again mock (them).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I will-give them land which is productive so-that they no-longer suffer of famine or be-mocked by the other nations.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “I will cause their land to be famous/well-known for its good crops. There will no longer be famines in the land, and people in other nations will no longer ridicule them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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.
And I will provide for them prosperous plantations: I will provide for them is literally “I will establish for them.” The pronoun them refers to God’s people. Plantations (literally “a planting”) may be rendered “crops” or “fields.” Instead of prosperous plantations, the Hebrew reads “a planting of name,” that is, a famous plantation. Many translations follow the Hebrew; for example, New International Reader’s Version has “a land that is famous for its crops” (similarly New International Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version), and Revised English Bible says “crops renowned.” The Revised Standard Version reading involves changing the order of two Hebrew consonants (shalom [“peace”] instead of leshem [“of name”]), a mistake that someone copying the text can easily make. The word that Revised Standard Version reads is the same word for “peace” that appeared in verse 25, so it is not out of place in this context. Other renderings that follow this reading are “a planting of peace” (Septuagint), “fertile fields” (Good News Translation; similarly Moffatt), “peaceful fields for planting” (New American Bible), and “large amounts of crops” (Contemporary English Version). It is difficult to decide which reading is better, but Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends that translators follow the Hebrew. Fortunately there is little difference in meaning between the two alternatives, because a field or a garden only becomes famous as a result of its fertility and the large crops it produces. We recommend that translators adopt this understanding in translating this clause.
So that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land: The Hebrew phrase rendered consumed with hunger carries the implication of “die of hunger” (Christian Community Bible), so it is much stronger than “put an end to hunger” (Good News Translation), “never again go hungry” (Contemporary English Version; similarly New International Reader’s Version), or “suffer from hunger” (New Century Version; similarly New Living Translation).
And no longer suffer the reproach of the nations means God’s people will no longer bear the “insults” (New Revised Standard Version, New Century Version, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible) or “taunts” (Revised English Bible) of other nations. In the ancient world it was a matter of ridicule and shame when a nation suffered famine, because it showed that their god was unable to look after his people (compare 36.30). Good News Translation renders this clause as “The other nations will not sneer at them any more,” and New International Reader’s Version has “The nations will not make fun of them anymore.” Another possible model is “No longer will other nations be able to insult them.”
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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