provoke (to anger)

The Hebrew that is translated as “provoke (to anger)” in English is translated in Newari as “causing one’s anger to come out” (source: Newari Back Translation).

anger

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The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “anger” or similar in English in this verse is translated with a variety of solutions (Bratcher / Nida says: “Since anger has so many manifestations and seems to affect so many aspects of personality, it is not strange that expressions used to describe this emotional response are so varied”).

  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “be warm inside”
  • Mende: “have a cut heart”
  • Mískito: “have a split heart”
  • Tzotzil: “have a hot heart”
  • Mossi: “a swollen heart”
  • Western Kanjobal: “fire of the viscera”
  • San Blas Kuna: “pain in the heart”
  • Chimborazo Highland Quichua: “not with good eye”
  • Chichewa: “have a burning heart” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) (see also anger burned in him)
  • Citak: two different terms, one meaning “angry” and one meaning “offended,” both are actually descriptions of facial expressions. The former can be represented by an angry stretching of the eyes or by an angry frown. The latter is similarly expressed by an offended type of frown with one’s head lowered. (Source: Graham Ogden)

In Akan, a number of metaphors are used, most importantly abufuo, lit. “weedy chest” (the chest is seen as a container that contains the heart but can also metaphorically be filled with other fluids etc.), but also abufuhyeε lit. “hot/burning weedy chest” and anibereε, lit. “reddened eyes.” (Source: Gladys Nyarko Ansah in Kövecses / Benczes / Szelid 2024, p. 21ff.)

See also God’s anger and angry.

complete verse (Isaiah 65:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 65:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those people make me angry always,
    and they abusing/mocking me always.
    They make sacrifices to idols in their gardens,
    and burn sacrifices
    on altars that are made from bricks.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Such people before me
    are always provoking me to anger [lit.: causing my anger to come out].
    They sacrifice offerings in [their] gardens,
    and kindled incense on altars made from brick.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They provoke- me -to-anger; they really show before me their without ending worship to their little-gods/false-gods by sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on the roof of their houses.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They boldly continue to do things that cause me to be angry:
    They offer sacrifices to their idols in their gardens,
    and they burn incense to them on altars made of bricks.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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”.

Translation commentary on Isaiah 65:3

A people who provoke me to my face continually: A people is literally “the people,” referring back to “a rebellious people” in the previous verse. Who provoke me to my face is an idiom that means they deliberately make God angry (compare Jer 7.18-19). They do this through their disobedience. Bible en français courant renders to my face as “openly.” For this phrase translators may use an ideophone or an adverb, such as “brazenly,” “blatantly,” or “boldly.” Continually has the same sense as “all the day” in the previous verse.

Verses 3b-5a detail the ways in which these rebels provoke God to anger.

Sacrificing in gardens: Since Yahweh disapproves of this activity, the gardens must refer to sacred places where the people participated in Canaanite fertility rites (see the comments on 1.29; see also 66.17). They were offering sacrifices to false gods in those places. As in 1.29|prj:GNTD.Isa 1.29, Good News Translation adds the adjective “sacred” to describe the gardens. This line may be rendered “making false sacrifices in gardens” or “making sacrifices to false gods in gardens.”

And burning incense upon bricks: The Hebrew verb rendered burning incense can also mean “to sacrifice” (see the comments on verse 7b). In this context it clearly refers to offering incense. Burning incense was always an element in Judah’s formal worship of Yahweh, so that act in itself is not the problem (see the comments on 1.13). However, in this context bricks probably refers to Canaanite altars made of bricks (compare “altars of incense” in 17.8). Israel’s laws forbade the construction of altars using “dressed” stones; Yahweh’s altars had to be built of natural stones (see Exo 20.25). New International Version has “altars of brick” (similarly Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant), and Good News Translation says “pagan altars.” For bricks see the comments on 9.10. In languages where bricks are unknown, translators may use “stones.” For this whole line Bible en français courant has “and on the brick altars they burn perfume [incense] for the false gods.”

Translation examples for this verse are:

• These people constantly and deliberately
set out to make me angry,
offering sacrifices to false gods in gardens,
and burning incense on brick altars.

• These people continually provoke me to anger,
offering sacrifices to other gods in gardens,
and burning incense on altars that are made of bricks.

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 .