calamity for many / destructive fire

In Gbaya, the notion of a calamity affecting a large groups of people at the same time and/or a destructive fire is emphasized in the referenced verses with the ideophone gbɔyɛɛ.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

all their kings have fallen

In Gbaya, the notion of “all their kings have fallen” in Hosea 7:7 is emphasized with gbéyéŋ, an ideophone used to describe something falling to the ground.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

on the ground / to the ground

In Gbaya, the notion of being flat on the ground or falling to the ground is emphasized in the referenced verses with gbéyéŋ, an ideophone that expresses the fact of being flat on the ground, or falling to the ground.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

complete verse (Hosea 7:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 7:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “All those people are angry
    and they destroy their leaders.
    All their kings fall down
    and no one calls to me to save them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “all of them are hot like an oven
    they destroy their rulers.
    Their kings will all be killed,
    but no one prays to me for help.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “All of them (are) very angry like a hot wood-oven, so they kill their rulers. All their kings were-destroyed, but not even one of them asked-for help from me.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “All those officials are like hot flames
    that completely burn up their rulers,
    so all their kings are murdered,
    and no one pleads with me to help them.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

king

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Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
  • Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))

Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:

“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

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 Hosea 7:7

Good News Translation prints this verse as a separate paragraph, since it serves somewhat as a summary statement of what has gone before. This is a valid reason for doing so in English prose. However, it makes more sense to view the first three lines as the climax of this passage, followed by a separate statement that expresses a theme throughout the text of this book: not seeking the help of the LORD.

All of them are hot as an oven: This line continues the figurative language of the oven for the anger of the assailants. Good News Translation changes the figure in order to express the meaning clearly: “In the heat of their anger.”

And they devour their rulers is a figurative expression that means “they murdered their rulers” (Good News Translation). An appropriate expression should be used in the receptor language. If possible, it should fit in this context where fire, heat, and oven are the dominant images.

According to 2 Kgs 15, in the space of eleven years four of the kings of Israel were assassinated (see introductory comments on this section). Yet to say All their kings have fallen would be an exaggeration if translated literally, for some kings died peacefully. Good News Translation avoids this by translating “Their kings have been assassinated one after another” to produce the effect intended by the Hebrew. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “king after king falls victim to them.” Have fallen in this context means “have been assassinated” (Good News Translation).

And none of them calls upon me: None of them does not refer to the kings but to the people, which Good News Translation makes clear by saying “no one.” The assassinations of their kings should have impelled the people to turn to God in repentance, but God notes that none of them calls upon me, meaning “no one prays to me for help” (Good News Translation).

A translation model for this verse is:

• They all are hot as an oven,
they consume their leaders,
all their kings fall.
And not one of them turns to me.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Hosea 7:7

7:7a–d

This verse consists of two sets of parallel lines. In the first set, 7:7b gives the expected result of the people’s angry desire in 7:7a. In the second set, 7:7d gives the unexpected result of the deaths of their kings in 7:7c.

7a All of them are hot as an oven,

7b and they devour their rulers.

7c All their kings fall;

7d not one of them calls upon Me.

Notice that 7:7b and 7:7c are similar to each other in meaning. However, 7:7b describes the murders primarily from the standpoint of those who committed the murders. Verse 7:7c describes the murders from the standpoint of the kings who were murdered.

7:7a

All of them are hot as an oven: This statement repeats the simile of the oven from 7:4 and 7:6. The word “hearts” is not made explicit here as it was in 7:6a, but the function of the simile is the same. It compares the people’s angry desire to do harm to the heat of an oven. Their intense emotions lead them to commit the specific acts of murder described in 7:7b–c.

Here are some other ways to translate this simile:

Their anger/emotion is like a hot oven.
-or-
In the heat of their anger (Good News Translation)

All of them: This phrase may refer specifically to the people who are involved in the plot to murder the leaders of Israel. It may also refer more generally to the people of Israel. If possible, translate this phrase so that it can refer to either group.

All: This word refers here to the group as a whole, not necessarily to every individual in the group. Notice that the Good News Translation (quoted above) does not make the word All explicit. You should use a natural way in your language to emphasize that the whole group was burning with anger.

7:7b

they devour their rulers: In Hebrew, the word devour often refers literally to eating food. It also refers figuratively to a fire that “consumes” what it burns or a sword that “devours” those that it kills (see Leviticus 6:10, 10:2; Deuteronomy 32:42). In this context, it probably continues the figurative idea of the blazing flames and hot oven. A fire destroys what it burns or consumes. Similarly, the people referred to in 7:7a destroy or kill their rulers.

Here are some ways to translate this figure of speech:

• Use a figure of speech. For example:

They consume their judges [like a fire]. (God’s Word)

• Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:

they murdered their rulers (Good News Translation)

their rulers: In Hebrew, the word rulers is literally judges. It can refer to any leader who governs or rules a group of people and is responsible for carrying out justice. In this context, the phrase their rulers is a poetic parallel with their kings. It probably describes the same leaders.

7:7c

All their kings fall: This expression is similar in meaning to the previous clause. It means that the kings of Israel are murdered.

All: In this context the word All is a figure of speech (hyperbole). This figure of speech emphasizes that people kill many of the kings. It does not refer literally to every king of Israel.

In some languages, a literal translation of this hyperbole may not be understood correctly.

Here are some other ways to translate it:

Their kings have been assassinated one after another (Good News Translation)
-or-
They kill their kings one after another (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
So many of their kings have died!

7:7d

and: The phrase “none of them” contrasts with the phrases “all of them” in 7:7a and “All their kings” in 7:7c. Verse 7:7d also gives the unexpected result of the series of murders described in 7:7b–c. Hebrew the Berean Standard Bible and some other versions do not use a conjunction here. Some other versions use the word and or “but.” Use a natural way in your language to indicate that 7:7d is an unexpected result.

not one of them: This phrase may refer in a general way to none of the people of Israel. It may also refer specifically to none of the kings or government officials. If possible, translate this phrase so that it can refer to either group.

calls upon Me: This phrase means to pray to God.

Here are some other ways to translate 7:7d:

but no one prays to me for help (Good News Translation)
-or-
and no one cries out to me for help (New Living Translation (2004))

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