The name that is transliterated as “Abraham” in English means “father of a multitude,” “father of mercy,” “father of many nations.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In the vast majority of sign languages, including American Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “hold back arm” (referring to Genesis 22:12).
In Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language it is translated with a sign for that demonstrates his new destiny. Previously, he had been called to wander from his home, and the name “Abram” reflected this movement (see here). The new sign name is in one location and stays there, showing Abraham will be given a land to call his own. At this time, Abraham was in the southern part of Canaan, which is shown on the base arm by the location near the elbow. (Source: The Vietnamese Sign Language translation team, VSLBT)
“Abraham” in Vietnamese Sign Language, source: SooSL
In Tira it is transliterated as Abaram. The choice of this, rather than the widely-known “Ibrahim,” as used in the Tira translation of the Qu’ran, was to offset it against the Muslim transliteration which originates from Arabic. (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Click or tap here to see two short video clips about Abraham (source: Bible Lands 2012)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 4:18:
English: “Some people constantly tell lies, and it is as though they are dragging behind them the wrong things that they have done. Terrible things will happen to them!” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 41:8:
Kupsabiny: “Do not be afraid, oh you people of Israel who are my servants, the stomach of Jacob that I have chosen, the descendants of my friend Abraham.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “But you! my servant Israel, Jacob, whom I have chosen. Lineage of my friend Abraham, ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “But you (sing.), Israel my servant and chosen-one, whom your (sing.) people are descendants of Abraham my friend,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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.
Verse 8 begins a long sentence that will end with verse 10 (see Revised Standard Version). Like Good News Translation, most versions divide it into several shorter ones.
But you renders an emphatic expression in Hebrew. These opening words mark a change in the direction of God’s speech. He addressed the nations in verses 1-7, but now he speaks to Israel. In translation it is important to make the contrast clear. The pronoun you is singular in Hebrew. Throughout this subsection all the second person pronouns are singular, but they have a collective sense, referring to the people of Israel (see the introductory comments on this subsection [41.8-13]).
Israel, my servant and Jacob, whom I have chosen are parallel expressions. For the parallel use of the names Israel and Jacob, see the comments on 9.8 and 40.27. Good News Translation combines these names into “Israel,” but translators should try to keep both names here because of the parallelism (see the examples below). The term servant is used in various ways in Isaiah (see the comments on 20.3; 22.20; 37.35). Here God calls the nation of Israel as a whole my servant since he is its master. This term will feature extensively in later chapters. God also says Israel is the nation whom I have chosen because of its covenant relationship with him. In Hebrew this clause is literally “whom I have chosen you.” The Hebrew verb here ends with the suffix –tika, which is composed of the first person singular suffix (-ti) and the second person singular suffix (-ka). The suffix –tika also occurs on four verbs in verse 9 and three verbs in verse 10. It gives a sound rhythm to the text and helps to mark the text’s unity.
The offspring of Abraham, my friend is another description of Israel. This line is literally “seed of Abraham whom I love.” “Seed” is a metaphor for “descendants” (Good News Translation, New International Version, Revised English Bible; see the comments on 6.13). See 29.22 for an earlier reference to Abraham. All the translations consulted use the phrase my friend, but in some languages the literal expression “whom I love” may be more appropriate.
Translation examples for this verse are:
• “But you, Israel, you are my servant,
you are Jacob, whom I have chosen,
you are the descendants of Abraham, my friend.
• “But you, Israel, you are still my servant,
Jacob, you are still my chosen one,
the offspring of Abraham, my friend.
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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