2nd person pronoun with low register (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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 35:11

The connector therefore introduces the result of the Edomites’ sin listed in the previous verse. Because of this sin God will punish them.

As I live, says the Lord GOD: The judgment begins with this oath to emphasize the truth of what God is saying (see the comments on Ezek 35.6).

I will deal with you according to the anger and envy which you showed because of your hatred against them means that God will treat the Edomites in the same way they treated the Israelites. New Century Version begins this sentence with “I will treat you just as you treated them…,” and Good News Translation has “I will pay you back…” (similarly New Living Translation). Anger and envy (“jealousy” in Good News Translation) describe the way the Edomites treated the Israelites. Envy refers to the way the Edomites wanted to take over the land after the people of Jerusalem went into exile. On the other hand, we don’t know any reason why the Edomites were angry with the Israelites, or how this anger was shown. It may have involved mistreatment and violence, but it may also have been their lack of concern and care for the defeated people of Jerusalem, that is, they shunned them as angry people often shun the people they are angry with. Translators will do well to choose a general term for anger here. The reason why the Edomites treated the people of Judah in this way was because of your hatred against them. Again we don’t know why the Edomites hated the Israelites, but perhaps it was just the normal tension between competing nations. A model for this whole sentence is “I will treat you in the same way as you treated them. You were angry with them and jealous of them because you hated them” (similarly New Century Version).

And I will make myself known among you means God will show the Edomites who he is. This is a slightly different form of the recognition formula that Ezekiel uses so frequently. Here the formula focuses on God actively making himself known, instead of the usual expression that people will come to know God. If translators cannot reflect this form in their language, it is acceptable to follow the usual terminology (see Ezek 35.4). The reading among you (so also New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, Moffatt, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), that is, among the Edomites, follows the Septuagint and involves changing a letter in the Hebrew text. The Hebrew actually reads “among them” (New International Version, King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, Christian Community Bible), that is, among “the Israelites” (New Century Version). This is the better reading (so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). In Hebrew this clause means God will show the Israelites who he is.

When I judge you: The Israelites will recognize God when he judges the Edomites. Good News Translation renders this clause and the previous one as “They will know that I am punishing you for what you did to them” (similarly Contemporary English Version), New Century Version has “So I will punish you and show the Israelites who I am,” and New International Reader’s Version says “When I judge you, they will know that I am the LORD.”

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 .