says the LORD / says the Lord GOD

The English that is translated as “says the Lord” or “says the Lord God” is translated in some influential French translations as oracle de Yahvé (La Bible de Jérusalem) oracle du Seigneur (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), and oracle de l’Éternel (Nouvelle Version Segond Révisée 1978) or “oracle (authoritative statement) of YHWH (or: the Lord).”

Timothy Lloyd Wilt (in The Bible Translator 1999, p. 301ff. ) describes the Hebrew ne’um (adonay) YHWH (quoting S. Meier, 1992) as “a highly marked expression (…) Hebrew does not characteristically repunctuate quoted discourse with reminders of the quote’s source, making this particle’s function quite distinctive and certainly unique in its frequency and distribution.”

The French translations above are emulating this with their distinct wording containing the French oracle.

Similarly, the French translation by Chouraqui uses harangue de or “harangue (or: ‘sermon’) of YHWH” and the English translation by Fox uses Utterance of YHWH. Both of these translations are Jewish translations that attempt to emulate the Hebraic nature of the original text. (Source: Drew Maust) Likewise, the translation by Goldingay (2018) has Yahweh’s declaration, typically set in parentheses: (Yahweh’s declaration).

The translation into Kera marks this by using the equivalent of “the words of me, YHWH” (source: Jackie Hainaut) and a language in West Africa, belonging to the Mande language family, uses a honorific form of “say,” that is only used for speech from God or his prophets. Both of these languages are spoken in francophone Africa.

See also Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD.” and tetragrammaton (YHWH).

complete verse (Isaiah 31:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 31:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “The ruler of soldiers shall be afraid
    and flee.
    The soldiers shall tremble
    and leave behind their flag/banner.
    The one who says these words is God
    whose fire is felt/stinking in Jerusalem.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Their fortress will tremble and collapse,
    and their commanding generals, seeing the signal flag, will become nervous and afraid,"
    LORD Almighty, whose fire is in Zion
    and [whose] kiln is in Jerusalem.
    He says.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Their soldiers will-flee for fear and their officials will-be-confused when they see the banner of their enemies. This is what the LORD has-said, whose fire is blazing in Zion, the city of Jerusalem.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Even their very strong soldiers will be terrified;
    they will abandon their battle flags and run away!
    Yahweh will cause his enemies who attack Jerusalem to be destroyed.
    Yahweh’s presence on Zion Hill is like a fire,
    like a furnace that blazes in Jerusalem;
    and that is what Yahweh says about what will happen to the Assyrian army!” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 31:9

His rock shall pass away in terror: His rock is a metaphor for something on which the Assyrians depended for protection (see the comments on 17.10, where this image is applied to God). New International Version has “Their stronghold.” His rock is parallel to his officers in the next line, so it probably refers to Assyria’s well-trained army. In a footnote on this verse New American Bible suggests it refers to the Assyrian king. Good News Translation reflects this with “The emperor.” It is better to say “Assyria’s rock-like army/soldiers” or “The defense of the Assyrians.” Pass away in terror means the army will flee because of fear. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “melt with terror,” and Good News Translation says “run away in terror.”

And his officers desert the standard in panic: This line is parallel to the previous one. The Hebrew word for officers is a general term for many kinds of leaders (see 1.23, where it is rendered “princes”), but in this context his officers refers to Assyria’s military leaders. A standard is an army’s flag that is carried into battle (see the comments on the Hebrew word here at 5.26, where it is rendered “signal”). However, there are two possible ways to read this line in Hebrew. It may be saying literally “and his officers will be terrified from fleeing” or “… will be terrified from the flag.” Revised English Bible follows the first reading with “and captains powerless to flee” (similarly New English Bible). For Revised English Bible the Assyrian officers are so terrified that they are paralyzed and cannot flee. But most translations follow the second reading, which says the officers are so terrified that they flee from their battle flag. We prefer this reading since it serves as a better parallel with the previous line. This line may be rendered “and the officers will be so frightened that they will abandon their battle flag” (similarly Good News Translation).

Says the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem: Yahweh is speaking here. Whose fire is in Zion is parallel with whose furnace is in Jerusalem. In the Old Testament fire can be an image for God’s purifying power, but it refers more commonly to his destructive power, as it does here (see 10.17; 26.11; 29.6; 30.27, 30). It is possible that fire refers to the fire on the altar in the Temple, which Good News Translation gives as its sense. However, it is better to keep fire as an image here, allowing for several possible meanings. The parallel image of the furnace also represents God’s destructive power. The Hebrew word for furnace refers to an oven used for cooking food. In cultures that do not uses furnaces, translators may combine the last two lines of this verse as follows: “says the LORD, whose fire burns very hot in Jerusalem.”

For the translation of this verse we suggest the following examples:

• Its rock-like army will run away in terror,
its officers will abandon their flag in panic,” says the LORD,
whose fiery presence is in Zion,
whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

• Assyria’s defense will melt away in terror,
its officers will flee in panic from their battle flag,” says Yahweh,
whose presence is like fire in Zion,
like a furnace in Jerusalem.

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 .