כִּ֣י לֹ֤א לְעוֹלָם֙ אָרִ֔יב וְלֹ֥א לָנֶ֖צַח אֶקְּצ֑וֹף כִּי־ר֨וּחַ֙ מִלְּפָנַ֣י יַֽעֲט֔וֹף וּנְשָׁמ֖וֹת אֲנִ֥י עָשִֽׂיתִי׃
16For I will not continually accuse,
nor will I always be angry,
for then the spirits would grow faint before me,
even the souls that I have made.
The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “(was or became) angry” in English is translated in Kwere as “saw anger.” In Kwere, emotions are always paired with sensory verbs (seeing or smelling or hearing). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In Bariai it is “to have grumbling interiors” (source: Bariai Back Translation).
See also anger and feel (terror, pain, suffering, anxiety).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 57:16:
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”.
The Hebrew particle ki rendered For may be a logical connector or an emphatic marker. Translators may leave it implied (so New International Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).
I will not contend for ever means Yahweh will not take this people to court or work against them continually. For the verb contend, see the comments on 3.13. Good News Translation and several other versions use the verb “accuse,” which fits this context well. God may accuse his people now, but he places a time limit on his actions. This clause is literally “not for ever will I contend,” so there is emphasis on the phrase “for ever.”
Nor will I always be angry is parallel and synonymous with the previous line. It is literally “and not for always will I be angry,” so there is emphasis on the phrase “for always.” God’s anger results from the people’s continuing disobedience (verse 17), but his anger with them will not last forever. The verb be angry is a keyword in this section. It occurs often in Isaiah (see, for example, 47.6; 54.9).
For from me proceeds the spirit, and I have made the breath of life: The Hebrew particle ki rendered for introduces the reason why God will not always accuse his people or be angry with them. Just as the first half of this verse has two parallel clauses, so does the second part. However, as the footnote in Good News Translation indicates, there is disagreement about how to translate it. The problem is the meaning of the Hebrew expression rendered from me proceeds the spirit. The Hebrew verb for proceeds has a primary meaning of “grow weak / faint.” Most modern versions express this sense. There are various interpretations for the phrase from me (literally “from before me”). New Jerusalem Bible has “under my onslaught,” referring to God’s accusations and anger. New International Version says “before me,” and Revised English Bible translates “because of me.” Bible en français courant leaves it implied. Spirit is parallel to breath of life, so in this context it refers to a person’s physical breath, his life. So the third line of this verse in Hebrew probably means God’s accusations and anger would result in reducing the people’s vitality. The footnote in Good News Translation expresses this sense with “they would die,” but the verb “die” is a little too strong. A better rendering is “they would grow weak.”
And I have made the breath of life is literally “and the breath of life I made,” which places emphasis on the life that Yahweh gave to humans (see Gen 2.7). He will not be always be angry with his people, because he is the one who gave them life.
For the last two lines of this verse New International Version has “for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me—the breath of man that I have created.” Revised English Bible combines them by saying “else the spirit of the creatures whom I made would be faint because of me,” and so does Bible en français courant with “Otherwise all those that I created would lose the breath of life.” In these versions the idea of creation is seen as implied in the source text.
For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:
• For I will not accuse them forever,
nor will I show my anger continually,
for then their spirits would grow faint—
I was the one who gave them life.
• For I will not fight them for an eternity,
nor will I be angry with them for all time,
because their spirits would grow weak,
yet I am the one who created them and gave them life.
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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