complete verse (Ezekiel 35:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 35:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “You boasted against me and I heard you speak against me in a bad way without fear.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You also boasted and whatever you just say against me, and I also heard it.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When you insulted me, I heard all that you said about me.” (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”.

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 35:13

The Edomites’ contempt extended further than the mountains and the land of Israel, but reached as far as God himself.

And you magnified yourselves against me with your mouth means they “spoke arrogantly” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “boasted proudly” (New Living Translation) against God. A good model for this clause is “You bragged that you were better than I am.”

And multiplied your words against me implies that they did not stop boasting like this and speaking against God. New International Reader’s Version says “You spoke against me. You did not hold anything back,” and Jerusalem Bible has “you have repeatedly slandered me.”

I heard it reinforces the fact that God knows what they said and has good reason to punish 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 .