In Bauzi “swear” can be translated in various ways. In Hebrews 6:13, for instance, it is translated with “bones break apart and decisively speak.” (“No bones are literally broken but by saying ‘break bones’ it is like people swear by someone else in this case it is in relation to a rotting corpse’ bones falling apart. If you ‘break bones’ so to speak when you make an utterance, it is a true utterance.”) In other passages, such as in Matthew 26:72, it’s translated with an expression that implies taking ashes (“if a person wants everyone to know that he is telling the truth about a matter, he reaches down into the fireplace, scoops up some ashes and throws them while saying ‘I was not the one who did that.'”). So in Matthew 26:72 the Bauzi text is: “. . . Peter took ashes and defended himself saying, ‘I don’t know that Nazareth person.'” (Source: David Briley)
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “anger” or similar in English in this verse is translated with a variety of solutions (Bratcher / Nida says: “Since anger has so many manifestations and seems to affect so many aspects of personality, it is not strange that expressions used to describe this emotional response are so varied”).
Chichewa: “have a burning heart” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) (see also anger burned in him)
Citak: two different terms, one meaning “angry” and one meaning “offended,” both are actually descriptions of facial expressions. The former can be represented by an angry stretching of the eyes or by an angry frown. The latter is similarly expressed by an offended type of frown with one’s head lowered. (Source: Graham Ogden)
In Akan, a number of metaphors are used, most importantly abufuo, lit. “weedy chest” (the chest is seen as a container that contains the heart but can also metaphorically be filled with other fluids etc.), but also abufuhyeε lit. “hot/burning weedy chest” and anibereε, lit. “reddened eyes.” (Source: Gladys Nyarko Ansah in Kövecses / Benczes / Szelid 2024, p. 21ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 3:11:
Uma: “I was angry and so I swore, I said: they will really not be allowed to enter into the land/village that I would have given them and they will not get rest/stopping with me.’ ‘” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “I was angry at them, therefore I covenanted/promised, I said, ‘They really will not enter the country where I would soon have given them rest,’ says God.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And I was very angry and I said that it was true that they could no longer enter into the place that I had prepared for them to rest along with me.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Therefore I promised in my anger that I would never have-them -enter the resting-place that I have prepared.’ That’s what God said.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore, in the big-size of my anger towards them, I vowed that they certainly would not be able to rest under my care/jurisdiction in that place that I promised them.”” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “So when the people made me angry I said to them, ‘Now you will not enter into the land I had decided that you should have as a place to rest with me’,’ he said.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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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.
Solemn promise (Good News Bible first edition vow) avoids the misunderstanding of “swear” as “curse,” but promise usually has a positive meaning, while in this context the meaning is negative. Since the expression solemn promise in English suggests something positive rather than negative, it is essential to avoid the wrong kind of connotation. It would be possible to say “I solemnly promised myself,” but in general it is usually far more satisfactory to say “I declared.”
In a number of languages the usual term for “vow” or “oath” is “to make a declaration in the presence of God” or “… with God witnessing.” However, since it is God himself who makes the vow in this context, such a normal expression cannot be employed. In some languages the concept of “vow” may be expressed as “I said with strong words” or “I declared with unchangeable words.”
The second half of the verse gives the content of the vow or promise and introduces a keyword of chapter 4, rest. Translators generally deal with the word rest in one of three ways: (a) they translate it literally, raising the problems (i) what does it mean to “enter” a “rest”? and (ii) how can one enter anyone else’s rest? (b) They replace the noun rest by a verbal expression, as early editions of Good News Bible did with come in and rest with me. This is excellent in this verse but is difficult to do consistently throughout chapter 4. (c) Good News Translation fourth edition, Jerusalem Bible, and Bijbel in Gewone Taal consistently translate land where I would have given them rest, taking rest to mean “place of rest” or “resting place.” In this way they can speak quite naturally of “entering,” and later of a resting place “remaining” in existence even when no one is yet occupying it (4.1). There is strong evidence that both the Septuagint and the Hebrew Old Testament used words for “rest” in the sense of “resting place.”
They will never enter: in Greek this has the form of a conditional sentence but the meaning of a strong negative statement, “They will certainly not enter.”
In many languages it is impossible to speak of “giving no rest to someone.” The more normal expression is a causative one; for example, “I would have caused them to rest.” In choosing a word for rest it is important to avoid the concept of “lying down.” The emphasis should be upon recuperating strength or relaxing after hardship, or finding peace and prosperity after a period of difficult trial and testing.
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 .
There are two ways to interpret the way 3:11 connects to 3:10. The connection depends on the interpretation of the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “So”:
(1) The word “So” indicates that God’s oath was a result of the people’s disobedience (3:8–10). For example:
So I vowed in my anger (Revised English Bible)
(2) The word “So” implies that the people who disobeyed will not enter God’s rest, just as God said they will not enter it. For example:
As I swore in my wrath (English Standard Version)
Several English versions (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and New Century Version) do not translate the word “So.” It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with the majority of English versions and commentaries.
3:11a–b
So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest’: The clause So I swore on oath in My anger indicates that God was angry when the people disobeyed him, so he vowed that they would never enter his rest. Some other ways to translate the clause are:
I was angry and made a promise, “They will never enter my rest.” (New Century Version) -or-
So in my anger I made a vow: “They will never enter my place of rest.” (New Living Translation (2004))
They shall never enter My rest: Here God vowed that those who did not trust and obey him would never receive the type of rest that he wanted to give them. Some ways to translate the meaning in this context are:
They will never receive the rest that I ⌊planned to give them⌋. -or-
they certainly will not be able to rest under my care
For information on how to translate rest in this context, refer again to the introduction to Section 3:7–19.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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