6On that day the inhabitants of this coastland will say, ‘See, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’ ”
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “survive,” “escape,” “save,” or similar in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) in these verses with pulumuka, describing someone whose life was in danger but who has freed himself or herself. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 20:6:
Kupsabiny: “When those days come, those people will say, ‘See (plur.) what has happened to the people we thought we could rely on so that they could hold off the king of Assyria from us so as not to kill us. How can we now be saved?’ ’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “On that day all the people living on the shore of the sea will say, ‘Look at the one in whom we had placed our hope to be [our] protection from the king of Assyria. That is the place to which we [would have] run for help. If their situation is like this, how will we be able to escape?’"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “At the time that this will-happen, the Filistinhon will-say, ‘Look-at what happened to the nations whom we (excl.) trusted and had-asked for help to save us (excl.) from the king of Asiria. So, how can we (incl.) now be-saved?’ ’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “They will say, ‘We trusted that the armies of Egypt and Ethiopia would help us and defend us, but they have been destroyed, so there is no way that we can escape from being destroyed by the army of the King of Assyria!’’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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:
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.”
And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day: The inhabitants of the coastland refers to the Philistines living along the Mediterranean seacoast. It probably also includes those living in the nearby foothills of Judah. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is explicit with “the Philistines and the people of Judah,” without mentioning coastland. Bible en français courant brings out the meaning of this with “the people inhabiting the coast where we live.” Bible en français courant also has a footnote explaining that these people are “the Philistines, but without any doubt also the Judeans.” In that day is not a vague reference here to some time in the future, but refers back to the time of the exile of Egypt and Cush mentioned in verse 4. Good News Translation says “When that time comes.”
‘Behold…’: This is a quote inside the quote of the LORD, which began in verse 3. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation use single quote marks to open and close this quote. Behold invites the audience to consider seriously what has happened and what the implications are for them. It may be rendered “Look!”
This is what has happened to those in whom we had hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria!: This refers back to the downfall of Egypt and Cush. These words also indicate that the Philistines and the people of Judah had requested Egyptian and Cushite help to counter the Assyrian offensive. They hoped that by depending on their help the Assyrians would not dare to attack them. If Assyria were to attack anyway, then they were expecting to be rescued by Egypt and Cush. Had hoped renders the same Hebrew word translated “hope” in the previous verse. To whom we fled for help (see 10.3) should not be taken literally since the people did not rush away from their country to seek help in Egypt and Cush, but it means that they made an earnest request for help. We may say “to whom we turned for help.” Good News Translation combines this clause with the previous one, saying “to the people we relied on.” It loses the emphasis here by doing this. Delivered from may be rendered “rescued from.” Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have “protect us from.”
And we, how shall we escape?: This rhetorical question shows despair. The people of Philistia and Judah see no hope for escape from Assyria since their source of help has been defeated. This rhetorical question can be expressed as a strong negative statement if that is required; for example, “There is no hope of escape for us!” Contemporary English Version has “But now, there is no escape for us.”
Consider the following translation examples for this verse:
• And the Philistines and the people of Judah who live along the seacoast will say then, ‘Look! This is what has happened to the ones we were hoping in, to whom we turned for help to save us from the king of Assyria’s attack. Now, how are we going to escape?’”
• And those living along the coast will say at that time, ‘Look at what has happened to those we placed our hope in, those whom we expected would help us and rescue us from the Assyrian army’s attack. Really, there is no hope of escape for us!’”
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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.