complete verse (Ezekiel 36:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 36:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “I have a lot of sympathy for you and I will bless you. Those hills will be plowed by/for you and planted” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Listen! I will-take-care of you. I will-plow your land and planted [it].” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I am concerned about/will take care of you, and I will bless you. I will enable farmers to plow the ground and plant seed there.” (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 36:9

For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you: The Hebrew word ki rendered For may be a logical connector (so Revised Standard Version) or an emphatic particle, which may be translated “Surely” or “Indeed.” For behold see Ezek 36.6. I am for you may be rendered “I am on your side” (Good News Translation), “I am concerned about you” (New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version), or “I will care for you” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). I will turn to you may be translated “I will look on you with favor” (New International Reader’s Version) or “I will come to help you” (New Living Translation [1996]). Both of these clauses mean God will now take a positive attitude toward the mountains of Israel. The pronoun you refers to the mountains of Israel, except in Good News Translation.

And you shall be tilled and sown refers to the resumption of normal farming in the land of Israel. New International Reader’s Version says “Farmers will plow your ground. They will plant seeds in it.” Although God will allow this to happen, there is no reason to assume that he will do the plowing and planting, which Contemporary English Version implies by rendering this verse as “I will take care of you by plowing your soil and planting crops on your fertile slopes.”

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 .