chariot

The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated into English as “chariot” is translated into Anuak as “canoe pulled by horse.” “Canoe” is the general term for “vehicle” (source: Loren Bliese). Similarly it is translated in Lokạạ as ukwaa wạ nyanyang ntuuli or “canoe that is driven by horses.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

Other translations include:

  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “cart pulled by horses” (source: Larson 1998, p. 98)
  • Chichicapan Zapotec: “ox cart” (in Acts 8) (ox carts are common vehicles for travel) (source: Loren Bliese)
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz, it is translated as “little house with two feet pulled by two horses” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Hausa Common Language Bible as keken-doki or “cart of donkey” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Mairasi: “going-thing [vehicle]” (source: Enggavoter 2004)

It is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:

Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

See also cart.

complete verse (Isaiah 22:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 22:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “Their beautiful chariots filled
    the beautiful valleys of Judah.
    The army of Elam ruled the gates,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Your prosperous valley is full of chariots,
    and as for riders,
    [they] will be sent to stand guard at the main city gate.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They cover your (plur.) fruitful plains/valleys, and they gather at the entrances/gates of your (plur.) city.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Our beautiful valleys will be filled with our enemies’ chariots
    and the men who drive the chariots will stand outside our city gates.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

2nd person pronoun with low register (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 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 22:7

This verse describes more fully the large number of chariots and horsemen in the invading armies.

Your choicest valleys were full of chariots: The chariots of the invaders filled the valleys around Jerusalem. The pronoun Your refers to the people of Jerusalem. Good News Translation renders this pronoun as “Judah,” but it is better to keep the direct address. Choicest valleys is an unusual phrase. It contrasts the beauty of the valleys with the fact that they became a battlefield. An alternative model for this line is “Your most beautiful valleys were covered with chariots” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

And the horsemen took their stand at the gates is parallel to the previous line. The horsemen set up their siege at the city gates. The Hebrew phrase rendered took their stand at the gates is onomatopoeic (shoth shathu hashshaʿrah). It sounds like the clatter of horses’ hoofs.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Your beautiful valleys were full of chariots,
horsemen besieged your city gates.

• Your lovely valleys were filled with chariots,
horsemen laid siege to your city gates.

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 .