quietness

The interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) uses the ideophone bata to describe complete quietness. (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 105)

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

complete verse (Isaiah 57:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 57:20:

  • Kupsabiny: “But the people who are sinners are like
    an ocean that is moving to and fro,
    an ocean where water does not stand still,
    one that spits/casts up mud and bad smelling things.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “But as for those who are evil, [they] come up like waves of the ocean,
    which do not remain quiet, [but] which wash up stained and polluted sewage water.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But the wicked-ones have no peace; they are like a rough/[lit. wavy] sea which carries rubbish and dirt to the side.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

In Malagasy culture, the sea is perceived as sacred because it was a path taken by the ancestors. That is why the Malagasy word for the “sea” is ranomasina, which literally means “the sacred water.” The word masina actually has two different meanings: “salted” and “sacred/holy.” Salt is used for the conservation of some foods, such as meat or fish, that are to be set aside for later use. In this sense, the Malagasy phrase for “Holy Spirit” has the literal meaning of “Salted Spirit.” (Source: Brigitte Rabarijaona in The Bible Translator 2022, p. 103ff.)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 57:20

But the wicked are like the tossing sea: In contrast to a good life of health for God’s obedient people, the wicked will have a different future. For the wicked, see the comments on 3.11. This expression occurs at the beginning of this verse and at the end of the next one to form an inclusio and to draw attention to their fate. God compares them to the tossing sea. The Hebrew word rendered tossing describes waves that are whipped up in a storm. Good News Translation and New Jerusalem Bible say “restless,” Revised English Bible has “storm-tossed,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh uses “troubled.” Other possible renderings are “pounding” or “stormy.”

For it cannot rest, and its waters toss up mire and dirt describes the tossing sea. The Hebrew particle ki rendered for is probably an emphatic marker or a relative pronoun (so New Revised Standard Version “that”; see also the examples below). It cannot rest refers to the constant pounding action of its waves. New Jerusalem Bible has “that cannot be still.” It is the opposite of calm waters. Its waters toss up mire and dirt means the waves pounding the shore stir up mud and other material from the bottom, making the water murky and unclear. Storms at sea do not usually stir up mud unless the sea is quite shallow. The imagery here comes more likely from an experience of a storm on Lake Galilee rather than one on the Mediterranean Sea. The Hebrew word for mire, which occurs only here in the Old Testament, refers to “mud.” It is almost synonymous with dirt. These two terms together refer to what is stirred up from the bottom of the sea by the wave action. For this whole line New Jerusalem Bible has “that cannot be still, whose waters throw up mud and dirt.”

The wicked are like the stormy sea since their lives are turbulent in contrast to the peaceful lives for God’s people (verse 19). The mire and dirt are metaphors for the troubles these evil people produce. We recommend a fairly literal translation here, leaving it to the readers to draw their own conclusions. Only in places where the sea and its storms are unknown, we suggest the following model for this verse: “But the wicked people are like a heavy [wind]storm that does not stop, and that blows all kinds of rubbish around.” Other possible models are:

• But wicked people are like the stormy sea,
which is restless, and its waters murky and muddy.

• But the wicked ones are like a storm-tossed sea,
whose pounding waves stir up mud and scum.

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 .