complete verse (Ezekiel 39:26)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 39:26:

  • Kupsabiny: “When they come to live in their land like before they will no longer have anxiety nor will anyone threaten (them), they will forget the trouble that they went through because they rebelled against me.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When they will- now -live in their land peacefully and have nothing to fear, they will- now -forget their shame and their betraying me.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When the Israeli people are back in their own country, they will live safely in their land, with no one to cause them to be afraid, but they will be ashamed when they think about the disgraceful and unfaithful things that they did previously.” (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 39:26

They shall forget their shame, and all the treachery they have practiced against me means the Israelites will be able to forget their unfaithfulness to God and the shame that resulted from their sins, so that it will no longer worry or upset them. Their shame refers to the disgrace they experienced as a result of their sins. All the treachery they have practiced against me is literally “all their unfaithfulness in which they acted unfaithfully against me,” which means the people were unfaithful to God. This expression renders a noun and verb from the same Hebrew root, which is translated “dealt … treacherously” in verse 23 (see the comments there). It is more logical to place the sinful action of unfaithfulness before the shame that resulted from it. A model of this clause that does this is “They will no longer think about how unfaithful to me they were and how this brought great shame to them.” The reading here in Revised Standard Version, which is followed by many of the translations, requires a small change to the vowels of the Hebrew text. Without that change the Hebrew reads literally “And they will bear their shame and all their unfaithfulness…” (similarly New Living Translation, King James Version / New King James Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), which means they will accept responsibility for the unfaithful things they did in the past, and this will help them to avoid doing the same things again. This reading is preferable, although the first one is also possible. Models for this reading are “They will accept responsibility for all the ways they were unfaithful to me” and “They will admit that they were wrong when they did all those wicked things against me.”

When they dwell securely in their land refers to a time in the future when the Israelites will be living peacefully, “in safety” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version), in their own land (see 28.26).

With none to make them afraid: They will feel safe because they will be in no danger, no one will threaten them (see 34.28).

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 .