complete verse (Isaiah 23:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 23:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “What shall I say to this city of Tyre?
    This city that was built long ago?
    This city whose people have gone
    to go and rule other faraway countries?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “What! This is your city of joyful celebration isn’t it?
    That oldest city of all.
    Whose feet enabled her to arrive by foot in a distant country
    to give her great trouble and suffering, didn’t they?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Before this city of Tyre is happy which was built-up long-time-ago, whose people-had reached the far places and invaded these places. But now what happened to her?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The people in the very old city of Tyre were previously joyful.
    Traders from Tyre established colonies in many distant nations.” (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 23:7

Is this your exultant city whose origin is from days of old…?: This is a rhetorical question whose purpose is to mock the city of Sidon for what it has become. The question is full of irony. The city is no longer full of joy since it lies in ruins. Because of the demonstrative pronoun this, we believe these words are addressed to the inhabitants of Sidon mentioned in the previous verse. But some versions identify the addressee as Tyre (so Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Bible en français courant). Translators have the option of making either Sidon or Tyre explicit. Your exultant city is literally “you [plural] exultant.” Since the Hebrew adjective rendered exultant is feminine, it describes the city of Sidon (or Tyre). The Hebrew root for this adjective generally refers to something happy or joyous. Good News Translation says “joyful,” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “merry,” and Revised English Bible “bustling.” Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch refer to your exultant city as a thing of the past. Bible en français courant has “your city in the past so animated,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “your city, which in the past was full of sparkling life.” Whose origin is from days of old describes the city as an ancient one, which is true of both Sidon and Tyre.

Whose feet carried her to settle afar: This figurative expression means Sidon (or Tyre) established colonies in different parts of the world as part of its international maritime trade. Feet refers to the ships that carried her sailors and traders. The Hebrew verb rendered settle usually refers to temporary settlement (see 16.4, where it is rendered “sojourn”). Good News Translation suggests this by rendering this line as “Is this the city that sent settlers across the sea to establish colonies?” (similarly Revised English Bible). However, the word “colonies” may carry too many political overtones to use in some modern contexts, so a more useful model may be “Is this the city that sent people across the sea to settle there?” Contemporary English Version is also helpful with “Its people have spread to distant lands.” Both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version render this line nonfiguratively.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Look at what remains of your once joyous city, established long ago and from which you sent settlers [or, traders] to distant lands!

• So this is your joyous city, established in ancient times and from which your ships sailed to distant lands for your people to settle there!

• Is this now your city of joy, founded in ancient days, from where you sailed to distant lands to settle there?

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 .