gentiles / nations

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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)

See also nations.

complete verse (Ezekiel 39:23)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 39:23:

  • Kupsabiny: “Other nations will know that the people of Israel were taken to another country on account of their sins because they did not hear/obey me. I turned my back on (them) and handed (them) over to the hands/power of the enemies for them to kill/spear them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The other nations will- also -know that the people of Israel were-taken-captive because of their sins, for they did not obey me. I turned-my-back to them and let [them] be-attacked by the enemies and be-killed.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “And the people of other nations will know that the Israeli people had been forced to go to other countries because they sinned by not being faithful to me. I turned away from/abandoned them, and allowed their enemies to capture them , and many of them were killed by their enemies’ swords.” (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”.

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 39:23

And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: According to this recognition formula, the other nations will understand why God punished the Israelites and sent them into exile. They went into captivity, that is, “exile” (Good News Translation), for their iniquity, that is, because they sinned against God. For the house of Israel, see verse 12. For the Hebrew word rendered captivity, see 12.11, where the same root is translated “exile.” The Hebrew word for iniquity refers to sin that is due to crookedness of character (see the comments on 3.19). New Living Translation renders this whole clause as “The nations will then know why Israel was sent away into exile—it was punishment for sin.” Another possible model is “And the nations will know why I sent the people of Israel into exile—it was because they sinned against me.”

Because they dealt so treacherously with me means the Israelites broke their relationship with God. This clause describes the Israelites’ sin in more detail. For the Hebrew verb rendered dealt … treacherously, see the comments on 14.13, where it is translated “acting faithlessly.” New International Version renders this clause as “because they were unfaithful to me” (similarly New International Reader’s Version, Revised English Bible). Some languages may find it hard to distinguish between iniquity and dealt … treacherously. If so, these two ideas may be combined, which Contemporary English Version does by saying “because they sinned against me” (similarly Good News Translation).

That I hid my face from them: As a result of the people’s sin, God stopped looking after them. Revised Standard Version ties the sin of the people very closely to God’s turning his back on them by using the connector that. Although it is possible to read the Hebrew in this way, the connection may be stated more simply as a result by using the conjunction “Therefore” (New Living Translation) or “So” (New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version). Others make it a simple connection by using the conjunction “and” (New American Bible) or no conjunction (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). It is best to use a result clause here, so that it is clear that God hid his face as a result of the people’s sins. I hid my face from them is an idiomatic expression that refers to someone not showing favor to someone else and ceasing to care for them. This may be due to anger or indifference. Some languages may not use this picture and will need to find another, for example, “I turned my back on them” (New Living Translation [1996]; similarly Contemporary English Version), “I closed my eyes to them,” or “I gave them backbone.” Some languages may not have an idiomatic expression and will have to translate the meaning, as in “I stopped caring for them.”

And gave them into the hand of their adversaries means God “let their enemies defeat them” (Good News Translation, International Children’s Bible). Again, hand means “power” (see verse 21).

And they all fell by the sword means all the Israelites were killed in battle (see 5.12). New Century Version says “until all of them died in war.” This is obviously an exaggeration because many of the Israelites did not die but were taken away into exile, so all may be rendered as “very many.” Some translations omit the word all; for example, Good News Translation says “and kill them in battle,” and Contemporary English Version has simply “and kill them.” Of course, many translators will retain the word all and recognize that it is very common in the Bible to use exaggerations to make a point.

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 .