angry

The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “(was or became) angry” in English is translated in Kwere as “saw anger.” In Kwere, emotions are always paired with sensory verbs (seeing or smelling or hearing). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In Bariai it is “to have grumbling interiors” (source: Bariai Back Translation).

See also anger and feel (terror, pain, suffering, anxiety).

go astray in their hearts

The Greek in Hebrews 3:10 that is translated as “go astray in their hearts” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with ziehen die falschen Schlüsse or “draw the wrong conclusions.”

generation

The Greek that is translated into English as “(this) generation” is translated as

  • “the people now” in Chol
  • “those who are in space now” in Tzeltal (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • “you people” in Tlahuitoltepec Mixe (source: Robert Bascom)
  • “(people of one) layer” in Ekari, Toraja-Sa’dan, Batak Toba
  • “one storey of growing” (using a term also denoting a storey or floor of a building) in Highland Totonac (source for this and one above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

See also generations and all generations.

complete verse (Hebrews 3:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 3:10:

  • Uma: “That’s why my heart was irritated at those people, for they were always willful/rebellious, they refuse to follow my ways.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore I was angry at those people and I said, ‘These people always cause their thinking to be different and they do not want to follow/obey my commands to them.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Therefore I was very angry with them at that time, and I said, ‘What they think is always mistaken, and they do not want to imitate what I do.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Therefore God became-angry with those collective-people and he said, ‘They continually go-astray to someone/something else. They refuse to follow my commands.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Therefore I have become angry with them, because I have observed that they are always separating/divorcing from me. They really refuse to be taught in that they are always ignoring the way/trail that I am showing/teaching them.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Therefore I was angry with them. Because these people have determined that they will separate from me. They do not want to follow the word I speak as they walk.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

For the Old Testament quote, see Psalm 95:7 – Psalm 95:11.

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 Hebrews 3:10

And so is the same word in the Greek as So then in verse 7. It is not strictly part of the quotation but is added by the writer of Hebrews, perhaps to draw attention to the following words.

Good News Translation‘s those people corresponds to Revised Standard Version‘s “that generation.” Since the writer of Hebrews has changed the text of the quotation from “those” to “these,” it is better to keep “these” in translation. The original context of Psalm 95 clearly refers to a “generation” in the strict sense, that is, those who were alive at the time of the rebellion in the desert (see Num 14.29-32). However, the word for “generation” can have the wider meaning of “descendants” or simply “people” of any group or type. The writer of Hebrews is not concerned only with Moses’ generation. For this reason, most common language translations translate people; note Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Therefore I was angry with them.”

In choosing a term for angry it is important to select one which will suggest justified anger rather than merely intemperate peevishness or irritability.

And said must be rendered in such a way as not to suggest that what was said was communicated directly to the people in question. Otherwise it would be necessary to change the following They to “You.” It may therefore be important to translate and said as “and said to myself” or even “and thought.”

Revised Standard Version‘s “go astray in their hearts” does not mean that their affections are turned in another direction, but that their minds and wills are directed away from God’s will, hence, are disloyal. The term disloyal may be expressed as “they refuse to follow me,” “they refuse to acknowledge me as their leader,” or “they have rejected me.”

Refuse to obey my commands repeats the same message in different words: they “have not known my ways,” that is, they have not understood or put into effect the behavior which God taught them; Knox has they “have never learned my lessons.” Refuse to obey my commands may be rendered as “refuse to do what I have commanded them to do.” In some languages, however, direct discourse may be required; for example, “they say, ‘We will not do what you command.’ ”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Hebrews 3:10

3:10a

Therefore: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Therefore introduces the result of the people rebelling and testing God in 3:8–9. It implies that God was angry because they tested him and did not believe in him. Some ways to translate the connection in English are:

So
-or-
As a result

I was angry with that generation: This clause explains why God was angry with the people who rebelled against him. He was angry because they did not believe him and disobeyed him. This is the way in which they “tested” him (3:9).

For more information about the way the people of Israel rebelled against the Lord, see Deuteronomy 1:19–40 and Numbers 13–14.

that generation: The phrase that generation refers to the Israelites who lived at the time when God rescued them from Egypt and led them through the desert. Consider how you refer to a group of ancestors who lived at a specific time more than a thousand years before you. In some languages a general reference back to them will be sufficient. For example:

those people/ancestors

Refer to them in a natural way in your language.

and I said: This phrase introduces what the Lord said about the people. He did not speak directly to them. Hebrews does not make explicit to whom he spoke. He probably spoke to Moses, since in Numbers 14:22 God said to Moses, “They have already tested me many times.”

Some other ways to introduce God’s decision are:

I thought
-or-
I said ⌊about them⌋

3:10b–c

Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known My ways: The two clauses in 3:10b and 3:10c are parallel. They have a similar meaning, and they are closely connected. Together they indicate that the people refused to obey God. In 3:10b the emphasis is that the people were not loyal to God. In 3:10c the emphasis is that they refused to know and follow God’s ways.

Some ways to translate these clauses are:

10b They are always disloyal 10c and refuse to obey my commands. (Good News Translation)
-or-

10b They continually go astray to someone/something else. 10c They refuse to follow my commands.
-or-

10b these people have determined that they will separate from me. 10c They do not want to follow the word I speak about how they should live.

Their hearts are always going astray: This clause is figurative. It indicates that the people were not loyal to God. They did not do what he told them to do. For ways to translate this clause, see the examples for 3:10b in the preceding note.

hearts: For more information on the use of hearts as an idiom, see the note on 3:8a.

and they have not known My ways: The clause and they have not known My ways indicates that the people did not want to understand the way that God wanted them to live. It implies that they did not choose to obey him. The people of Israel did not understand what God wanted because they refused to obey his commands. That is why he was angry with them.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

They refuse to do what I tell them. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
they will not hear/listen-to the way I teach them to live
-or-
and they have no desire to know who I am and how I want them to live

For more information on what the people of Israel did, see Deuteronomy 1:32–33.

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