witness

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and and Greek that is translated as “witness” in English is translated in these ways:

  • “truly have seen” in Highland Popoluca
  • “telling the truth regarding something” in Eastern Highland Otomi
  • “know something” in Lalana Chinantec
  • “verily know something to be the truth” in San Mateo del Mar Huave
  • “we ourselves saw this” in Desano
  • “tell the truth about something” in Eastern Highland Otomi
  • “know something is true because of seeing it” in Teutila Cuicatec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • “ones who will confirm that these-things that you have seen are true” in Kankanaey (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • “ones who are to testify about these things, because it all happened before your eyes” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

gentiles / nations

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).

Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).

In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also nations.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Isa 43:9)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation use the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

complete verse (Isaiah 43:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 43:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “Let the nations gather themselves
    and let all people come to one place.
    Which one among their idols
    is there who has foretold what is happening like this time now?
    Let them go/come with witnesses
    so that they can witness/testify that their words have come true.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “All the nations gathered together in one place,
    all the peoples of the world gathered in one place.
    Which among their gods can tell us about future,
    and who can declare what happened before [it happened]?
    Let them bring their witnesses to prove they were right,
    and having heard others, let them say [lit.: speak like this], "That is the truth."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Let- all the people of the nation -gather as one. Who among their little-gods/false-gods can-prophesy the future? Who among them have-told before the happenings now? Let- them -bring witnesses to prove that they are right so-that other can-hear this and will- say that indeed (it is) really true.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 43:9

Here Yahweh challenges the other nations in court to prove that they are able to accurately predict events before they happen (compare 41.21-23).

Let all the nations gather together, and let the peoples assemble: Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation render these two synonymous parallel lines as commands for the other nations to come to court also. However, the forms of the Hebrew verbs here indicate that these lines are statements, which say the nations have gathered together already. Revised English Bible expresses them correctly with “All the nations are gathered together and the peoples assembled” (similarly New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things?: These two parallel rhetorical questions imply that not one of the nations has predicted something accurately before it happened. Who among them can declare this means none of them foretold the current events. For Good News Translation the pronoun them refers to the gods of the nations, but it more likely points back to the nations themselves. The Hebrew verb rendered declare has the sense of “predict” (Good News Translation) in this context. New International Version expresses it well with “foretold.” The demonstrative pronoun this refers to current historical events, including the military victories of Cyrus the Persian emperor. An alternative rendering that makes this explicit is “things that are happening now.”

And show us the former things means none of the nations predicted past events correctly. The verb show (literally “cause to hear”) is synonymous with declare, so it may be rendered “foretold” (New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “predicted.” The former things refers to past events (see the comments on 41.22).

For Good News Translation there is a contrast between “the future” and “what is happening now” in these two questions. However, it should be between “what is happening now” and “the past.” For languages that do not favor the use of rhetorical questions, these two lines may be rendered as a strong statement; for example, “No one among them has predicted what is happening now and told us beforehand about past events” (see also the second example below).

Let them bring their witnesses to justify them, and let them hear and say, It is true: Here Yahweh challenges the nations to bring in witnesses to prove that they have predicted past and current events accurately. If they can do so, then the members of the court will know that they have the ability to predict world events. These two parallel lines are literally “Let them bring their witnesses, and let them justify, and let them hear, and let them say, ‘Truth.’” There are four jussive verbs here in Hebrew. “Let them justify” means “let them prove they were correct.” Revised English Bible says “[let them] prove their case.” The first two occurrences of the pronoun them refers to the nations, but the last occurrence in and let them hear and say probably points to the members of the court. New International Version uses “others” for the last pronoun, and Revised English Bible has “people.” These general expressions fit well here. It is true is literally “Truth.” This direct quote means the witnesses must prove that the nations accurately predicted past and current events. For languages that prefer indirect speech here, the last line may be rendered “and let others listen and say that they were right” (see also the first example below).

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• All the nations have come together,
the peoples have gathered.
Which of them has predicted what is happening now,
and told us beforehand about past events?
Let them bring their witnesses to show they were correct,
and let people hear and state that they were correct.

• All the nations have gathered together,
the peoples have assembled.
None of them have predicted this,
and told us about past events before they happened.
Let them bring out witnesses to prove they were right,
and let others listen and tell [us], ‘They were correct.’

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 .