The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “love” in English is typically translated in Hakka Chinese as thung-siak / 痛惜 or “pain-love” when it refers to God’s love.
The same term is used for a variety of Hebrew terms that cover a range of English translations that refer to God as the agent, including “love,” “compassion,” and “mercy.”
Paul McLean explains: “[Thung-siak / 痛惜] has been used for many years in a popular Hakka-Christian mountain song based on John 3:16. The translation team decided that for this and other reasons it would be a good rendering here. It helps point to the fact that God’s ‘love’ is a compassionate (cum passio, with suffering) love.”
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “change one’s mind,” “come to one’s senses,” or “repent” or similar in English is translated in these verses in the Protestant Mandarin ChineseUnion Version with a historical Chinese idiom: huíxīn zhuǎnyì (回心轉意 / 回心转意) or “change mind (lit. “return heart, change mind”).” (Source: Toshikazu S. Foley in Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies, 2011, p. 45ff.)
The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is typically as “compassion” in English (“compassion” comes from the Latincompatior and means suffering with) is translated in various ways:
Shilluk´: “cries in the soul” (source: Nida, 1952, p. 132)
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Ephraim” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “palm tree” referring to the palm of Deborah in the land of Ephraim (see Judges 4:5. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 1:18:
Kankanaey: “When that is finished, I will-make-an-agreement-with all wild animals and birds on the earth so that they do not harm my people. I will also remove bows/arrows and swords and I will-cause-to-stop wars in their towns/countries so that their lives will become-peaceful.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 11:8:
Kupsabiny: “But how can I be refusing you, oh Ephraim? How can I discard you, oh Israel? How can I punish you like I punished the city of Admah, and/or like I punished the city of Zeboyim? My stomach does not accept me to do like that because the love I have for you (plur.) is strong/heavy.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “O Ephraim, how can I abandon you? O Israel, how can I hand you over into the hands of the wicked? How can I wipe you out like Admah? How can I destroy you like Zeboiim? My heart is completely torn up within me. My heart is full of compassion. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘Those- (who) -come-from-Israel, I can- not -reject you (plur.) or just leave (you) alone. I can- not -completely destroy you (plur.) like what I did to the towns of Admah/[Adma] and Zeboim. My feeling can- not -endure that I will-do this to you (plur.). I pity you (plur.) so much.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘Israel, am I perhaps able-to-endure handing- you (sing.) -over to your (sing.) enemies? Am I perhaps able-to-endure abandoning you (sing.)? Can I actually (RQ implies no) destroy you (sing.) like Adma and Zeboiim (marker indicates these are place names)? Here-now I repent. I-now-realize I am not able-to-do-it because of my extreme mercy/kindness.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “You people of Israel, I certainly do not want to abandon you and allow your enemies to capture you. I do not want to act toward you like I acted toward Admah and Zeboiim, cities that I completely destroyed when I destroyed Sodom. I have changed my mind about punishing you; my desire to pity you has increased.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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.
After all the words of warning, threatening warfare and destruction on Israel, verses 8-9 are a statement of God’s continuing love for Israel, a total shift from the preceding verses. In translation this shift can be marked by a blank line (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation) or a new paragraph (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).
How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim?: These four questions are rhetorical. The first and the third questions use the same Hebrew verb, which can mean “give,” “put” or “set,” depending upon the context. Revised Standard Version translates it give … up and make.
How can I give you up, O Ephraim? and How can I hand you over, O Israel? are parallel ways of saying the same thing. Yahweh owns, loves and protects Israel, yet it would be right for him to give Israel over to its enemies as a punishment. So he asks how he can force himself to do this. Give you up and hand you over refer to delivering them to someone else. Revised English Bible says “hand you over … surrender you.” However, the verb “surrender” implies that God has lost the battle and must therefore give up his people. The Hebrew verbs here do not carry this meaning unless the context calls for it, but they are simply verbs for giving, even as a gift. Good News Translation‘s “abandon” is not really accurate. It is not stated to whom God will give them, but we can assume it will be Israel’s enemies.
For the synonymous names Ephraim and Israel, Good News Translation uses only “Israel” (see comments on 4.17 and 5.3). We recommend keeping both names.
How can I make you like Admah? and How I can I treat you like Zeboiim? are two more parallel questions. Admah and Zeboiim were cities near the east side of the Dead Sea. Abraham had rescued them in his battle with Chedorlaomer (Gen 14), but we learn from Deut 29.23 that they were later included in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19). Together these cities have come to symbolize wickedness and subsequent destruction as a result of God’s wrath. The unspoken answer to these rhetorical questions is “I could not so destroy you.”
My heart recoils within me: In Hebrew thought the heart is the location of the intellect and the will, as well as the location of desires and emotions. Recoils renders a Hebrew verb meaning “overturn” or “change.” So this line in Hebrew can be interpreted in two ways. First, it may be an expression of deep emotions, as in Revised Standard Version. It shows God’s inner feelings of discomfort if he had to destroy Israel. God in his love draws back from such a complete and permanent destruction. Good News Translation follows this interpretation by saying “My heart will not let me do it!” Second, it may describe God’s change of mind, as in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh’s “I have had a change of heart,” and New International Version‘s “My heart is changed within me.” This second option matches well with the final line, which then gives the grounds for the change of mind. Whichever interpretation translators follow, translators should use an appropriate expression for heart. Not all cultures use this word when referring to the emotions or the mind.
My compassion grows warm and tender: The Hebrew noun for compassion comes from a root that means “have sympathy” or “be sorry.” Grows warm and tender renders one verb in Hebrew. This verb literally means “to become hot.” Here it expresses deep love and tenderness (compare Gen 43.30 and 1 Kgs 3.26, where it is rendered “yearned”). The Hebrew text also has a word meaning “all” or “together,” so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh renders this line as “All My tenderness is stirred.” Good News Translation is a little more clear with “My love for you is too strong”—too strong, of course, to give Israel up to permanent destruction.
A translation model for this verse is:
• How can I give you up, Ephraim,
deliver you up, Israel?
How can I give you up like Admah,
treat you like Zeboiim?
I have had a change of heart,
all my compassion for you is burning.
Quoted with permission from Dorn, Louis & van Steenbergen, Gerrit. A Handbook on Hosea. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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