הִנֵּ֧ה עֲבָדַ֛י יָרֹ֖נּוּ מִטּ֣וּב לֵ֑ב וְאַתֶּ֤ם תִּצְעֲקוּ֙ מִכְּאֵ֣ב לֵ֔ב וּמִשֵּׁ֥בֶר ר֖וּחַ תְּיֵלִֽילוּ׃
14my servants shall sing with gladness of heart,
but you shall cry out in pain of heart
and shall wail in anguish of spirit.
The now commonly-used German expression Herzenslust, which today is especially used in the phrasing “nach Herzenslust,” meaning to do something just like one wants (literally “follow the desires of the heart”), was first coined in 1534 in the German Bible translation by Martin Luther. (Source: Günther 2017, p. 77)
For other idioms or terms in German that were coined by Bible translation, see here.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.
Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
See also Seat of the Mind / Seat of Emotions, rejoiced greatly / celebrated, the Mossi translation of “righteous”, and joy.
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 show different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.
This verse expands on the thought of the previous contrast, explaining what it means to “rejoice” and “be put to shame.”
Behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart: God’s servants will sing because they are happy about the blessings they receive from him for their faithfulness. This line is literally “behold, my servants will shout from goodness of heart.” Bible en français courant has “they will be so happy that they will cry for joy!” Good News Translation says simply “They will sing for joy.”
But you shall cry out for pain of heart: In contrast, those who are unfaithful to God will cry because they are very sad about the punishment they receive for their sins. The Hebrew expression for pain of heart refers to inner sorrow rather than some physical ache or pain.
And shall wail for anguish of spirit is parallel and synonymous with the previous line, emphasizing the future condition of the rebellious ones. They will lament because they are deeply troubled in mind. Like pain of heart, the Hebrew expression for anguish of spirit also refers to mental pain and suffering. Good News Translation says “a broken heart.”
A translation example for this verse is:
• See, my servants will sing/cry for joy,
but you will cry out in anguish,
and wail with inner suffering.
An example that continues the indirect speech of the second example for the previous verse is:
• Yes, his servants will sing for joy,
but you will cry out in sorrow,
and weep with inner suffering.
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 .
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 show 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”.