naked

The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated as “naked” in English is translated in Enlhet with a figure of speech: “(one’s) smoothness.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )

In Elhomwe the word for “naked” is “shameful to use, and would never be used by a preacher in church.” Therefore “without clothes” is used. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

hungry

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, Latin, and Greek that is translated in English as “hungry” (or: “famished”) is translated in a number of ways:

  • Noongar: “without stomach” (koborl-wirt) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Kölsch translation (Boch 2017): nix zo Käue han or “have nothing to chew on” and singe Mage hät geknottert wie ne Hungk or “his stomach growled like a dog” (source: Jost Zetzsche)
  • German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Hunger überfiel ihn or “Hunger overtook (lit.: “attacked”) him” (in Matthew 4:2)
  • Kupsabiny: “hunger ate him” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Mairasi: “feeling tuber pains” (tubers are the main staple) (source Enggavoter 2004)

complete verse (Isaiah 58:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 58:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “Share your food with those who are hungry.
    Receive/welcome the orphans who have nowhere to stay.
    Dress those who have no clothes
    and do not refuse to help your relatives.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “To share [your] own food with those who do not have the chance to eat,
    and to give shelter to the needy who have no house,
    and as for those who are naked, to put clothing on [them]
    and not to run away from your own relatives — isn’t this so?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) give food to the ones who-are-hungry, you (plur.) cause-to-stay in your (plur.) houses the ones who-have-nothing to stay, you (plur.) clothes the ones who-have- no -clothes, and you (plur.) help your (plur.) blood-relatives.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I want you to share your food with those who are hungry
    and to allow those who have no houses to stay in your houses.
    Give clothes to those who do not have clothes,
    and do not hide from your relatives who need help from you.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 58:7

Is it not…?: The list of God’s requirements for true “fasting” continues in this verse, introduced by the same question form as in verse 6 (see comments there). The pronoun it refers to the true “fasting.”

To share your bread with the hungry refers to providing food to those in need of it. The Hebrew verb rendered share is literally “break [in two].” Most versions use “share.” Bread may be rendered “food” since it has a generic sense here. For this whole clause Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “Invite the hungry ones to your table,” which prepares well for the next one.

And bring the homeless poor into your house calls on the people to provide shelter for those who have no home. Good News Translation expresses it in more colloquial English: “and open your homes to the homeless poor.”

When you see the naked, to cover him calls on the people to provide clothing for those who have none. This is another poetic call to provide poor people with whatever they need. The naked has the more general sense of a person who has no clothes (so Good News Translation). It is unlikely that people actually walked around naked, so this is figurative language for people who were so poor that they had very little clothing. Bible en français courant renders this line as “provide clothing to those who don’t have it.”

And not to hide yourself from your own flesh calls on the people not to refuse to help their own family members. To hide yourself in this context means to turn your back on people, that is, to refuse to help them (see 45.15, where it is used of God). Your own flesh does not refer to one’s own body, but to one’s own family. Good News Translation expresses this line clearly with “and do not refuse to help your own relatives.” New International Version stays closer to the Hebrew with “and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood.”

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Is it not sharing food with any who are hungry,
giving shelter to the homeless,
providing clothes to those who lack them,
and not turning your back on your kinsfolk [or, your own family]?

• What I really require is that you feed the hungry,
give shelter to the homeless,
clothe the naked,
and look after your own flesh and blood.

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 .