complete verse (Isaiah 6:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 6:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “God will chase/drive people to go to a faraway land,
    and this land will become a desert/deserted place.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “until the LORD has driven the people who live here far away
    and they have left the land.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Until I will-drive-out the Israelinhon and their land seems-like forsaken already.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Do it until I have exiled everyone/forced everyone to go to their enemies’ lands far away,
    and the whole land of Israel is deserted.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 6:12

And the LORD removes men far away: Here God speaks of himself in the third person and identifies himself as the LORD. In some languages it may be more natural to say “I, the LORD,” “I, Yahweh,” or even simply “I,” as Good News Translation has done. Removes … far away indicates that Yahweh will send the people into exile to some distant place. For this line Good News Translation says “I will send the people far away,” which is a valid option. New Jerusalem Bible has “and Yahweh has driven the people away.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh begins a new sentence here and translates “For the LORD will banish the population.”

And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land adds to the description of desolation, indicating that the number of uninhabited places (forsaken places) in the land will be many. Here the adjective many does not simply mean many places but rather every place. The phrase in the midst of the land means “throughout the land” in this context. For this line Good News Translation has “and make the whole land desolate,” and New Jerusalem Bible says “and the country is totally abandoned.”

Alternative translation models for this verse are:

• … [and] until I, Yahweh, send everyone far away,
and the whole land is made desolate.

• Until I, Yahweh, send everyone into distant exile,
and throughout the land all is devastation.

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 .