6not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 3:6:
Kupsabiny: “Not to where there are many people whom it is hard for you to speak to (them) or/and who do not hear your language and you do not hear theirs. If I had sent you to other communities where you do not hear their words, they would have listened to you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “If I will-send you (sing.) to the people whose language is different and hard to-understand, surely they will-listen to you (sing.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “I am sending you to people whose language you understand very well. If I were sending you to people whose language was difficult for you to understand, they wouldbe surprised and pay attention to what yousay to 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.
Translators who render “speak with my words” in the previous verse as “say my exact words” will understand For as a logical connector, that is, God now expands on why Ezekiel can and should say his very words. But in most languages it will be more natural to omit it as it simply marks a continuation in the thought of the previous verse (so Good News Translation).
You are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language: You are not sent may be rendered “I am not sending you.” A people of foreign speech and a hard language renders a Hebrew idiom that is literally “a people deep of lip and heavy of tongue,” which simply means “a nation that speaks a difficult foreign language” (Good News Translation) or “some strangers who speak a foreign language you can’t understand” (Contemporary English Version). Translators should avoid giving the impression that the people had speech impediments or they were not intelligent.
But to the house of Israel: Good News Translation says “but to the Israelites.” For the house of Israel, see Ezek 3.1.
Not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand: The Hebrew word rendered many (rab) can also mean “great.” Most translations prefer “many” (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), some prefer “great” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible), and others omit it (so Contemporary English Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). It is impossible to be sure which meaning is best. The picture is this. One nation, Israel, speaks the same language as Ezekiel and can understand his message, but they will not listen to him. In contrast to this are many nations that speak foreign languages and cannot understand what Ezekiel says, but they would listen to him if God sent him to them. Therefore the idea of “many” probably fits the context best.
Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you: Surely renders an emphatic Hebrew particle, meaning “truly,” “for sure.” The Hebrew pronoun for they is also very emphatic. Listen to you means “pay attention to you [and obey you].”
In many languages it may be preferable to combine these two verses and rearrange their order. Contemporary English Version does this by saying “They are Israelites, not some strangers who speak a foreign language you can’t understand. If I were to send you to foreign nations, they would listen to you.” Another model that does this is:
• I am sending you to the people of Israel. I am not sending you to a nation that speaks a foreign language or to many nations that speak languages you can’t understand. No, I am not sending you to nations like that. But suppose I did send you to nations like that, for sure they would listen to you [and obey you].
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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