complete verse (Isaiah 43:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 43:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “I shall be with you
    when you cross over/through much water.
    Or when you go through rivers that overflow
    you shall not drown.
    When you go through fire
    you shall not burn
    nor shall the flames of the fire scorch you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “When you go by way of deep water I will be with you.
    When you go by way of the river, you will not be covered by it.
    When you go by way of the fire, you will not be touched by it.
    By that flame you will not be burned.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When you (sing.) pass-through the water, I will-be-with you (sing.). When you (sing.) cross-over the rivers you (sing.) will- not -be-drown. When you (sing.) pass-through the fire, you (sing.) will- not -be-burned; the flame of it can- not -harm you (sing.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English ArtScroll English Tanach (2011): “When you pass through water, I am with you; through rivers, they will not wash you away; when you walk through fire, you will not be singed, and no flame will burn you.”

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 43:2

In this verse God assures his people that he will be with them whenever they face danger, so that it does not overcome them.

When you pass through the waters I will be with you: Just as God was with Moses and the Israelites when they crossed the Reed Sea (or, Red Sea), so he will be with them when they face any other dangers, including any during their return from exile in Babylonia. The subordinate conjunction When introduces a possibility, so it may be rendered “Whenever” or “If.” Waters is a metaphor for any dangers the Israelites will face. I will be with you recalls the promise God made to Moses in Exo 3.12. An alternative rendering for this whole line is “Whenever you have to pass through deep water, I will be with you.”

And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you: This line is parallel to the previous one. Here God promises his people that their troubles will not defeat them. The phrase When you pass is implied here. Rivers is another metaphor for dangers, so it may be rendered “wide/deep rivers” to make this clear. Overwhelm you means “to flow over you,” implying drowning. The Hebrew verb rendered overwhelm is the same one translated “overflow” in 8.8, where it refers to destruction.

Translators may change the order of waters and rivers in the first two lines for naturalness. Good News Translation combines them by saying “deep waters” in its first line. Then its next line makes it explicit that these are metaphors for “your troubles.” This model may be helpful for other languages.

When you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you: These two synonymous parallel lines use the metaphors of fire and flame to represent dangers (compare 41.25). Just as Daniel’s friends were not burned in the furnace (Dan 3.27), so God will protect his people from other dangers. As in the first line, the subordinate conjunction when introduces a possibility. The Hebrew verb rendered consume means “to burn up completely.” Revised Standard Version uses the imagery of eating, which fits this context well. In Hebrew there is a sound play between this verb, which is thivʿar, and the verb for pass through, which is thaʿavor. Good News Translation combines fire and flame into “fire,” and it also makes it explicit that these are metaphors for “hard trials that come.”

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• When you cross the waters, I will be with you;
and when you cross the rivers, you will not drown.
When you pass through fire, you will not be burned,
and the flames will not devour you.

• Whenever you pass through deep water, I will be there with you;
and whenever you cross deep rivers, they will not sweep you away.
Whenever you go through fire, it will not burn you,
and the flames will not consume 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 .