bear child / give birth

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “bear (a child)” or “give birth to” is translated in Mairasi as “go to the forest,” reflecting the traditional place of childbirth for Mairasi women. (Source: Enggavoter 2004)

In Spanish it is translated as dar a luz, literally “to give to light.” Likewise, in Portuguese (dar à luz) and Italian (dare alla luce). (Source: Mark Terwilliger)

See also in childbirth / travail and birth.

gentiles / nations

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).

Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).

In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also nations.

complete verse (Isaiah 66:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 66:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “Who has heard words like this being said?
    Who has seen with his eyes things like these?
    Is there a community that has been born in one day?
    Or is there a land that was saved in one day?
    But in the moment that Zion went into labor
    (she) bore her children immediately.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Who has heard a matter like that?
    Who has seen a matter like that?
    What! Is it possible to create a country in a single day?
    Or is it possible to bring out a nation in some short time?
    But as soon as the birth pains begin to happen Zion will give birth to her children.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Who has-heard and seen such like this? Can a country or a nation be-created in just a very short time? But as Jerusalem start to labor, his people will-be-born.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 66:8

Four rhetorical questions begin this verse. These questions highlight the fact that giving birth before labor is something quite extraordinary. They imply that only God can make this happen. For languages that do not favor the use of rhetorical questions, see the second example below.

Who has heard such a thing? means that nobody has ever heard of a woman giving birth in this way.

Who has seen such things? means that nobody has ever seen such a thing happen.

Shall a land be born in one day? means that no country can come into being in one day. The metaphor of a woman giving birth without labor pains is applied to a country here. Be born in one day refers to a speedy birth, as in the previous verse.

Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? means that no nation can come into being in an instant. This question is parallel and synonymous with the previous one.

For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her sons: This climactic statement identifies the woman of verse 7 as Zion, that is, Jerusalem. Jerusalem will have many inhabitants very quickly. The Hebrew particle ki rendered For is not a logical connector here. It is more likely a contrastive conjunction (“Yet” in New Revised Standard Version and New International Version). It indicates that what was seen as impossible in the previous lines will nevertheless happen for Jerusalem. The verb forms in these last two lines may refer to a past event (so Revised Standard Version) or a future one (so Good News Translation). Since the future is clearly in view in the next verse, translators may prefer it here also. There is a slight variation in the imagery here from that of verse 7, because here the children are born just as labor begins rather than before it. This slight difference in imagery is not unusual in poetry, which uses at times contrasting, even contradictory, images to present its view of reality.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
Has anyone ever seen such a thing?
Is it possible for a country to be born in one day?
Is it possible for a nation to appear in an instant?
Yet just as soon as Zion went into labor,
she bore her children.

• Nobody has ever heard of such a thing!
Nobody has ever seen such happenings!
No country is born in one day!
No nation comes into being in an instant!
But the moment Zion goes into labor
she will bring forth her children.

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 .