For “All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever,” see 1 Peter 1:24 and 1 Peter 1:25.
Note that this quote in the New Testament is not taken from the Hebrew Bible but from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) which translates into English as “All flesh is grass; all the glory of man is like the flower of grass. The grass has withered, and the flower has fallen, but the word of our God remains forever.” (Translation by NETS — for the Greek version see the title’s tooltip)
The Hebrew that is translated as “steadfast love,” “lovingkindness” (Goldingay 2018: “commitment”) or similar in English is translated in a number of ways:
Vidunda: “love of enduring” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Bura-Pabir: “love which cannot be-changed” (hyirkur na a palidzi wa)
HausaCommon Language Bible “his love without changing” (kaunarsa marar canjawa) (source for this and above: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Elhomwe: “love that does not finish” (echikondi yoohisintheya) (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Nyamwezi: chelu, combining “love,” “faithfulness,” “loyalty,” and “kindness” (source: James Lundeen)
Newari: dayāmāyā (दयामाया), a compound word made from two Sanskrit-derived terms: dayā (दया) or “compassion, mercy, kindness” and māyā (माया) or “love, affection” (source: Newari Back Translation)
In Pijintinghevi long or “think heavy about” is used. “The Pijin expression ‘think heavy about’ is very much within the domain of committed relationships. The relationship between father and child, husband and wife, God and His people. There is a very strong element of ‘loyalty’ in this expression.” (Source: Bob Carter)
In Latvian the term žēlastība is used both for “steadfast love” and grace.
In a number of languages, the terms for for “steadfast love” and mercy are used interchangeably.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin terms that are typically translated as “mercy” (or “compassion” or “kindness”) in English are translated in various ways. Bratcher / Nida classify them in (1) those based on the quality of heart, or other psychological center, (2) those which introduce the concept of weeping or extreme sorrow, (3) those which involve willingness to look upon and recognize the condition of others, or (4) those which involve a variety of intense feelings.
While the Englishmercy originates from the Latinmerces, originally “price paid,” Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, Corsican, Catalan, Friulian) and other Germanic languages (German, Swedish, Danish — Barmherzigkeit, barmhärtighet and barmhjertighed, respectively) tend to follow the Latin misericordia, lit. “misery-heart.”
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 40:6:
Kupsabiny: “There is a voice that is saying, ‘Shout.’ I asked, ‘What news shall I shout?’ I was told, ‘All people are like grass, and their faith is short lived/weak like the life of flowers. Grass will dry and flowers shall fall.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “A voice spoke like this, "Proclaim the word!" Then I asked, "What word should I proclaim?" "All people are just like grass, their glory is like the wildflowers that live only a short time.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Someone said to me, ‘You (sing.) preach!’ I replied, ‘What I am going to preach?’ He said, ‘Preach that all the people are like grass, and their greatness are like its flower.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
A voice says, “Cry!”: As in verse 3, there is an unidentified speaker here who is called A voice. It could be the same person in both cases (see the comments on Isa 40.3). De~Waard suggests that the voice here is from heaven and the prophet is the one who responds in the next line. The verb Cry is better rendered “Proclaim” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “Announce,” as in verses 2 and 3. Many languages will require an object for this verb; for example, Good News Translation says “Proclaim a message!” and Bible en français courant has “Make a proclamation.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”: As noted above, the prophet is probably the one who responds here. He asks what he should announce. However, Masoretic Text has “he [or, one] said,” rather than I said. The reading I said is based on the Septuagint and one Dead Sea Scrolls text of Isaiah. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives cautious support to Masoretic Text. Translators may follow either reading here. New English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Nouvelle Bible Segond, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible follow Masoretic Text, but most modern versions adopt the first person reading. Said may be rendered “asked” (Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible) since a question follows. Good News Translation uses the present tense verb “ask.” We recommend past tense here, but translators may feel the present tense is more appropriate.
Verses 6c-8 contain the message that the unidentified speaker tells the prophet to proclaim to the world. It may be helpful to introduce this message with “The voice replied, ‘You shall say, “All human beings are like grass….”’” (similarly Bible en français courant). This makes it very clear that in verses 6-8 there is a dialogue between two people. Good News Translation and Bible en français courant place verses 6c-8 within quote marks. Revised Standard Version does not do this, so it is not clear that these words are the message the prophet is to proclaim.
All flesh is grass is a metaphor. The point of the comparison becomes clear in verse 7, namely, human beings die quickly like grass. In languages where the metaphor might be taken literally, it is possible to change it into a simile: “All human beings are like grass” (compare Psa 103.15). All flesh refers to all human beings, as in verse 5.
And all its beauty is like the flower of the field is a simile that compares human beings to wild flowers. The pronoun its can refer back to flesh or grass, but flesh is more likely (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible). The Hebrew word for beauty is chesed, which is normally rendered “goodness,” “kindness,” “graciousness,” or “steadfast love” (see the comments on 16.5). Reliability is an important component of its meaning. Beauty is not a correct translation of this term since it does not have this meaning elsewhere. It is better to say “permanence” or “endurance” here. New Revised Standard Version has “constancy,” which is correct, but it is awkward in English. The flower of the field (also in Psa 103.15) is a singular expression with a collective sense referring to “wild flowers” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). This phrase may be rendered “flowers found in the bush [or, outside]” or simply “flowers.” Of the field is probably a standard stylistic addition, so it may be omitted (compare “fish of the sea” and “birds of the air” in Gen 1.26). Good News Translation renders this whole line well with “they last no longer than wild flowers” (similarly Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible).
Translation examples for this verse are:
• A voice says, “Proclaim a message!”
I asked, “What message shall I proclaim?”
“You should proclaim that all humans are grass,
they last only as long as wild flowers do.
• A voice says to proclaim a message.
Then another person asks what message he should proclaim.
The voice answers that the message is:
All human beings are like grass,
like the wild flowers that live only a short time.
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 .
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