Hades / Sheol

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is often translated in English as “Hades” or “Sheol” is translated in the German Luther Bible 2017 (and pre-1912) as Totenreich or “realm (or: kingdom) of the dead” in these verses. (Source: Jost Zetzsche)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Sheol .

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Isaiah 14:11

This verse graphically describes the Babylonian king rotting away in the grave. Maggots and worms surround him and replace his former glory.

Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps: These lines are highly ironic. Everything the king of Babylonia felt proud about has now been transferred to the world of the dead. Babylonia’s pomp or “pride” has been mentioned earlier in 13.19, where the same Hebrew word is used. The verb brought down reflects the theme of “rise up – go down.” The sound of your harps is parallel to Your pomp. Both are brought down to the world of the dead. The music associated with festivities and celebrations gave the king pride. Translators may need to make the link between his pride and music more obvious to convey the meaning (see the second example below). Good News Translation interprets pomp to be the honor that the music of harps would bring, but this seems to limit the sense too much. For harps see the comments on 5.12.

Maggots are the bed beneath you is a very graphic description of rotting flesh being eaten by maggots. The maggots are like a bed on which the king is lying. Perhaps this is an indication of their great number. This line may be rendered “maggots are so thick they form a bed under you.”

Worms are your covering extends the previous line’s imagery. The bedcovers are worms. It would be difficult to think of a more graphic way to describe the death of a person, especially such an important one. For maggots and worms, translators may use creatures that are usually associated with death and decay in the receptor language.

Translators can consider the following examples for this verse:

• Your pride and your celebrations have been brought down to Sheol; maggots form the bed you lie on and worms cover you.

• All that you were proud of, your festivities full of music, have come to the world of the dead; maggots and worms form your bed and blanket.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .