The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “love” in English is typically translated in Hakka Chinese as thung-siak / 痛惜 or “pain-love” when it refers to God’s love.
The same term is used for a variety of Hebrew terms that cover a range of English translations that refer to God as the agent, including “love,” “compassion,” and “mercy.”
Paul McLean explains: “[Thung-siak / 痛惜] has been used for many years in a popular Hakka-Christian mountain song based on John 3:16. The translation team decided that for this and other reasons it would be a good rendering here. It helps point to the fact that God’s ‘love’ is a compassionate (cum passio, with suffering) love.”
The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is typically as “compassion” in English (“compassion” comes from the Latincompatior and means suffering with) is translated in various ways:
Shilluk´: “cries in the soul” (source: Nida, 1952, p. 132)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 54:7:
Kupsabiny: “I abandoned you (plur.) only for a little while, but I shall gather you again because I feel much mercy/compassion for you (plur.)” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “I only abandoned you for a time. I will bring you back again with great compassion. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “In a short time I have-left/abandoned you (sing.), but with my great mercy I will-take- you (sing.) -back.” (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.
Verses 7-8 do not begin with the Hebrew particle ki meaning “for/because,” but they provide another reason why the Israelites in exile should celebrate and not be ashamed: the LORD will love them again after briefly deserting them.
For a brief moment I forsook you: The LORD briefly abandoned his people when he sent them into exile. For a brief moment is literally “In/For a small moment [in time].” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch say “For a little while,” and Revised English Bible has “For a passing moment.” Forsook renders the same Hebrew verb translated “forsaken” in the previous verse. I forsook you means that Yahweh took the initiative in separating from his people. Good News Translation has “I left you,” Bible en français courant says “I had rejected you,” and New International Version translates “I abandoned you.” Yahweh claims that the present separation was only intended to be short-lived and not permanent. The covenant relationship between Yahweh and his people was an everlasting one (see Psa 105.8-10), so it could never be completely broken.
But with great compassion I will gather you contrasts with the previous line. The adjective great contrasts with brief (literally “small”), and so does the verb gather with forsook. Great compassion refers to the deep love and tenderness that Yahweh still has for his people. I will gather you means he will bring them back from where they have been scattered. In this way he will show his love to them as their husband.
Most versions use past tense for the verb forsook and future tense for the verb gather. However, Bible en français courant has present tense for the second verb, which the Hebrew syntax allows.
Translation examples for this verse are:
• “I abandoned you for a little time,
but I will bring you back out of great compassion [for you].
• “For a short time I sent you away,
but with great compassion I will bring you back.
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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