sanctuary

The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “sanctuary” in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) with opatulika or “separated place.” This is understood in a religious setup as a place designated for worship. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (Isaiah 43:28)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 43:28:

  • Kupsabiny: “So, I shamed those who were in charge of
    the House of God.
    I allowed the stomach of Jacob to be destroyed,
    I abandoned/left the people of Israel to be insulted.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “So I defiled on leaders of your Temple.
    I brought complete destruction for Jacob,
    I have allowed Israel to become disgraced."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore I put-to-shame your (sing.) priests and I handed- you (sing.) -over, Israel, to destruction and shame.” (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 43:28

In this verse God speaks of his judgment on the Israelites because of their sins in the past.

Therefore I profaned the princes of the sanctuary: There is a textual problem here. Revised Standard Version and most other versions follow the Hebrew text of Masoretic Text, but Good News Translation‘s rendering is based on the Septuagint. Good News Translation has “and your rulers profaned my sanctuary.” Revised English Bible is similar with “and your leaders desecrated my sanctuary.” The Septuagint translators probably changed the Hebrew text since they could not accept that God would judge the ministers of his sanctuary. We recommend the reading in Masoretic Text here since it is also in Dead Sea Scrolls, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports it. Therefore renders the common Hebrew conjunction, which is literally “And.” This logical connector fits well with the Masoretic Text reading—the Israelites sinned (verse 27), so God disgraced their leaders of the Temple. In the Septuagint God’s response to Israel’s sin does not begin until the second line, so the versions that follow it begin with a logical connector there instead of here; for example, Good News Translation begins the second line with the conjunction “So.” I profaned may be rendered “I acted against.” Bible en français courant has “I dishonored,” while New International Version says “I will disgrace.” New International Version uses future tense here, but since verses 27-28 refer to the time before the exile, past tense is better.

The princes of the sanctuary refers to the leaders who served in the Temple. New International Version has “the dignitaries of your temple,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “the priests of my sanctuary.” The Hebrew phrase rendered the princes of the sanctuary can also mean “the sacred leaders,” as in Bible en français courant (1997), which has a footnote saying these leaders are “The king and perhaps also the priests.” Translators may follow either sense here.

I delivered Jacob to utter destruction: God allowed others to completely destroy the nation of Israel. The Hebrew word rendered utter destruction refers to the custom of devoting something to God as a sacrifice by destroying it completely (see the comments on 34.2, where the same Hebrew root is translated “doomed”). The agents God used to punish his people were the Babylonians. They carried many of the Israelites into exile from Judah, and they left the others behind in the ruined country.

And Israel to reviling means the Israelites were treated with contempt by others. The surrounding nations gloated and rejoiced to see Israel fall. This line is parallel to the previous one, so the verb delivered is implied here. For the parallel names Jacob and Israel, see the comments on 9.8 and 40.27. Good News Translation renders reviling as “insulted” (similarly Bible en français courant). However, the Hebrew word for reviling has a stronger sense than this. It is better translated “scorned” or “despised.”

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• So I dishonored your sacred representatives,
and I handed Jacob over for complete destruction,
and allowed Israel to be scorned/despised.

• So I disgraced the leaders of the sanctuary [or, Temple],
and I ensured that Jacob was completely destroyed,
and that Israel was reviled.

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 .