complete verse (Isaiah 41:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 41:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “You are the ones I bring you to come home
    getting up from the end of the world.
    I call you to come from far away,
    I am saying that you are my servants.
    I have chosen you and I will not refuse you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I brought you from the remote places of the earth.
    and I summoned you from the corners of the earth.
    and I said, ‘You are my servant.’
    I have chosen you — not rejected you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I called and have-taken you (sing.) from the farthest portions of the world. I have-told you (sing.), you (sing.) are my servant. I have-chosen you (plur.) and I did- not -reject you (sing.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

complete verse (Isaiah 4:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 4:19:

  • English: “They make fun of God and say to him,
    ‘Go ahead, do something to punish us!
    We want to see what you will do.
    You, the Holy One of Israel, should do what you are planning to do,
    because we want to know what it is.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

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 41:9

You whom I took from the ends of the earth: In Hebrew this verse begins with the relative pronoun whom, so it continues the sentence in the previous verse. Translators may begin a new sentence here, as in Good News Translation. The pronoun you is singular as in the previous verse. Here it could refer to Abraham or to the nation of Israel as a whole. In the context Israel is more likely. The Hebrew verb rendered took (literally “strengthen”) is the same one translated “Take courage” in verse 6 and “encourages” in verse 7. Revised Standard Version translates it accurately here. Other possible renderings are “brought” (Good News Translation) and “rescued.” The ends of the earth is an idiom for the remote areas of the earth (see verse 5 and 5.26).

And called from its farthest corners is parallel to the previous line. Its farthest corners is another idiomatic expression for the remote areas of the earth. Obviously the earth does not have corners (see the comments on 11.12, even though a different Hebrew for corners is used there). For this line Bible en français courant translates “and whom I called from the most distant regions.”

The structure of the first two lines is chiastic: I took you > from the ends of the earth > < from its corners < I called you. Saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”: You are my servant and I have chosen you repeats what God said in the previous verse. With this repetition he assures Israel that their covenant relationship is still in place. He adds not cast you off to emphasize it even more. As noted before, it is not unusual in Isaiah for three or four synonymous expressions to occur together to make a strong point. Not cast you off means God has not abandoned his people. In 40.27 the people had raised this possibility. For this clause New International Version says “have not rejected you” (similarly Good News Translation), while Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “now too I have not disowned/repudiated you.” Translators may use indirect speech for the last two lines; for example, Revised English Bible translates “I have called you my servant, have chosen you and not rejected you” (see also the second example below).

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• You are the one I brought from the ends of the earth,
calling you from its most distant corners.
I said to you, ‘You are my servant,
I chose you. I have not rejected you.’

• You are the ones I rescued from the distant lands of the earth,
calling you from its farthest points.
I said to you that you are my servants,
the ones I chose. I have never rejected you.

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 .