complete verse (Isaiah 66:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 66:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “So, I shall punish those people,
    I shall send a disaster to crush (them),
    because no one responds when I am calling,
    (they) refuse to listen to me when I speak to (them)
    They have done bad things in my eyes
    and accept/love things that do not make me happy.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “So I will deal with them harshly,
    I will bring matters to them that will instill a sense of fear.
    For when I called, no one answered.
    When I called, no one was concerned.
    What was not good in my eyes, exactly that they did.
    And what was not pleasing to me, exactly that they did."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Aside from those, I will-send them punishment which will- really -make- them -terrify. For when I called, they did- not -answer; when I spoke, they did- not -listen. They did wickedness before me, and whatever I am not pleased-with is-what they do.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When I called out to you,
    you did not answer.
    When I spoke, you did not pay attention.
    You did many things that I say are evil;
    you chose to do things that I did not like.
    So now I will punish you by causing you to experience the things that you are very afraid of.’” (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 66:4

In this verse what God’s unfaithful people have chosen to do is contrasted with his choice. The Hebrew verb for “have chosen” in the previous verse occurs twice here: God will choose a punishment for the people according to what they chose to follow. The verb for “delights” in the previous verse is also used here. The repetition of the verbs “choose” and “delight” is an important rhetorical device in these two verses. It is used to highlight the contrast between God’s ways and those of the people.

I also will choose affliction for them is an emphatic expression in Hebrew, since it is literally “Also I, I will choose….” It helps to mark the contrast between the choice of God and that of the people. It is not clear what God will choose for the people, since the meaning of the Hebrew word for affliction is unclear. It is an unusual term that comes from a root that refers to deliberate action, so Revised English Bible says “a wilful course,” and Bible en français courant renders affliction for them as “bring upon them the consequences of their capricious acts.” It is clear that God will punish the people who have engaged in Canaanite practices. “Punish” is a possible meaning for the Hebrew word rendered affliction, according to the footnote in New Revised Standard Version. In the text itself New Revised Standard Version uses the verb “mock” (also New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; similarly New Jerusalem Bible). So translators have a choice here, but the idea of “punishment” is probably the better choice. New International Version says “harsh treatment.”

And bring their fears upon them explains how God will punish the people. Whatever fearful events they hoped to avoid by worshiping both him and other gods will now fall upon them as punishment. Their fears may be rendered “the things they fear” (similarly Good News Translation, New International Version, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant).

Because, when I called, no one answered, when I spoke they did not listen: These two lines and the next two are almost identical to the last four lines in 65.12; see the comments there. God will punish the people because they refused to obey him.

But they did what was evil in my eyes describes in another way the problem Yahweh has with the people. They did what he considered evil.

And chose that in which I did not delight reinforces the idea that the people deliberately chose a religious life that displeased Yahweh.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Now I, I choose to punish them
by bringing upon them the very things they fear.
For when I addressed them, they refused to respond,
when I spoke to them, they refused to obey.
Instead, they did what I consider evil,
and they deliberately chose to do what displeases me.”

• So I, I will choose their punishment,
namely, to bring upon them what they fear could happen;
because they refused to respond when I called,
they refused to obey when I spoke to them.
Instead, they did what I view as evil,
and they chose to do what I do not like [or, what I hate].”

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 .