Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 43:4:
Kupsabiny: “You belong to wonder in my view (You are precious to me), you are honored and I love you. So, I give out other nations for you (plur.) and I will exchange other countries for your life.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Because you are very precious in my eyes and are honored, because I love you I will give people in place of you and nations instead of your life.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I will-hand-over the other people-groups instead of you (sing.), because you (sing.) are precious/valuable/[lit. of-great-price] and honorable in my sight, and because I love you (sing.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
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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.
Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you: In these two lines God gives three reasons why he will rescue his people. First, he says you are precious in my eyes, which means he places high value on them. Second, they are honored by him. The Hebrew verb for honored comes from a root meaning “to be heavy.” Here it means that God has admiration for his people. Third, he says I love you. As we have noted before, the book of Isaiah often uses three or four expressions that are close in meaning to make a strong statement. God uses these three synonymous clauses to underline the high value he places on his people. In language where three such synonymous statements would sound unnatural, it is possible to combine them. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has only two, saying “because you are worth so much to me and I love you.”
I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life: Because God values his people highly, he will offer other nations in exchange for them. These two synonymous parallel lines continue the thought of the last two lines of the previous verse. The verb phrase I give is implied for the last line. As in the previous verse, Good News Translation translates give as “give up.” Other possible renderings are “offer” and “hand over.” The Hebrew word for men is a general term for human beings, so it is better rendered “other people” or “others” in this context. It is parallel to peoples, which refers to other nations. The prepositional phrases in return for and in exchange for both render a Hebrew word meaning “in place of.” It also occurs in the previous verse. God will substitute the lives of other people in order to save the lives of his own people. Good News Translation combines these two lines to read “I will give up whole nations to save your life,” which other languages may find helpful.
Revised English Bible emends the Hebrew text of this verse in Masoretic Text to read “You are more precious to me than the Assyrians; you are honoured, and I love you. I would give the Edomites in exchange for you, and any other people for your life.” However, there is no textual evidence for this emendation, so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rejects it. Translators should follow Masoretic Text here.
Good News Translation reorders this verse, so that the reasons for God’s actions come at the end (see also the second example below). Other languages may prefer to do this for a natural style.
For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:
• Because you are very precious to me,
and because I love you,
I will give up others for you,
I will give up other nations to save your lives.
• I will offer up others for your sake,
I will offer up other nations to rescue you,
because I highly prize you,
because I honor you and I love 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 .
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