complete verse (Isaiah 32:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 32:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “Please you women who enjoy life,
    listen carefully to what I am telling you.
    Hear my words, oh, girls of luxury.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “O [you] women who are living at ease,
    wake up! Then pay attention and listen to my words!
    O daughters who are feeling secure,
    listen carefully [to] what I will say!” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) women who just take-it-easy/relax and have nothing to worry-about, you (plur.) listen to what I’m am going to say to you (plur.)! In just a little more than a year, you (plur.) will-be-troubled because the grapes will- no-longer -bear-fruit, and you (plur.) will-harvest nothing.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Isaiah 32:9

Verses 9-14 are similar to 3.16—4.1 by focusing on the women of Jerusalem. It is not clear why this is done here. They probably represent all those who enjoy life in Jerusalem but who will soon lament what is about to happen to them and their pleasant city.

Rise up, you women who are at ease is the first of three imperative clauses in this verse. The Hebrew verb rendered Rise up is not used with a literal sense here, but it simply introduces the action of listening (compare 14.21). It emphasizes that the women should listen to what the prophet is about to say. Translators may omit this verb if readers misunderstand it to mean literally that the women should stand up (so Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). The Hebrew adjective translated who are at ease means that the women feel secure and untroubled.

Hear my voice is the second imperative clause. It may be rendered “listen to what I have to say.”

You complacent daughters, give ear to my speech is parallel to the previous line. The complacent daughters are not different from the women who are at ease. Both these expressions refer to women who are comfortable and unworried, full of self-confidence. Good News Translation describes them as “women who live an easy life, free from worries.” Give ear to my speech is synonymous with hear my voice, so Good News Translation combines them with “listen to what I am saying.” For hear and give ear together, see 1.2.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Come, you women who are free from care, listen to me;
you ladies who are so self-confident, take note of my words.

• Listen to me, you women who live so comfortably;
take note of my words, you ladies full of self-confidence.

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 .