4and say to him: Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.
The Hebrew that is translated “silent,” “quiet,” or “keep peace” or similar in English is emphasized in the interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) with the ideophone phee. (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 105)
Philip Noss (in The Bible Translator 1976, p. 100ff. ) explains the function of an ideophone: “The ideophone may be identified with onomatopoeia and other sound words frequently seen in French and English comic strips, but in [many] African languages it comprises a class of words with a very wide range of meaning and usage. They may function verbally, substantively, or in a modifying role similar to adverbs and adjectives. They describe anything that may be experienced: action, sound, color, quality, smell, or emotion. In oral literature they are used not only with great frequency but also with great creativity.”
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”).
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.)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 7:4:
Kupsabiny: “Tell (him), ‘Stand well/strong. Do not disturb yourself or tremble because of the anger of Rezin who rules Syria, and (the) son of Remaliah. They are both like smoke that rises from two cooking stones.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Speak to him in this way, ‘Be careful, do not be afraid and stay calm. Don’t be afraid of the anger of Rezin king of Aram and of king Pekah — smoke coming out of two burning strands of wood.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “This is what you (sing.) are going to say to him, ‘[You (sing.)] be-ready/prepared! [You (sing.)] just stay-calm and do- not -be-afraid. [You (sing.)] do- not -be-nervous just because of the great anger of King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah the child of Remaliah. They are just like the two stumps of a tree that smolts/makes-smoke but has no fire.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Tell Ahaz to stop worrying. Tell him that he does not need to be afraid of those two kings, Rezin and Pekah. They are very angry with Judah, but they are unable to harm his country any more than completely burned-out coals can harm him.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Verses 4-9 are the words Isaiah is to speak to Ahaz from Yahweh. This verse begins with four imperatives that are largely synonymous. They are used to calm Ahaz’s fears arising from the plan devised by Rezin and Pekah. The second half of the verse scornfully describes these two enemy kings in a poetic manner.
Isaiah frequently uses three, sometimes four, synonymous expressions to bring his message. It is a special feature of his writing. Clearly its purpose is to emphasize the point he is making. Here we have an example of four commands piled up. Since King Ahaz faces a serious threat, there is an urgency conveyed by these commands. Yahweh urgently appeals to Ahaz not to react to the enemy advance. Since the underlying purpose of the repetition is to urge the king to trust him for help, translators should use a format that can have the same effect. This may mean following the Hebrew form with a series of imperatives or using an adverbial phrase or an ideophone to provide the emphasis.
Take heed, be quiet: These first two commands are positive. Take heed renders the Hebrew verb meaning “to be watchful/careful” or “to restrain yourself.” The latter sense fits this context well, implying that Ahaz should not do anything hasty or unwise. Be quiet is a call to demonstrate calmness. For these two commands New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “Be firm and be calm.” Contemporary English Version collapses them with “stop worrying.”
Do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint: These synonymous commands are both expressed in the negative, but they have a positive meaning. Do not fear is a highly significant expression for this book. It occurs in a number of other places (8.12; 10.24; 35.4; 37.6; 40.9, and so on), so it carries one of its most important messages. Do not let your heart be faint will probably need to be rendered by a different idiom (for example, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “do not lose heart”) or by a nonfigurative expression (for example, Bible en français courant “do not let yourself be intimidated”).
Because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands: The negative commands link directly to this phrase. God tells Ahaz not to worry because of what Rezin and Pekah are planning to do. These two smoldering stumps of firebrands is a figurative phrase describing the two kings as nonthreatening weaklings. The adjective smoldering describes something as slowly burning, often describing the dying moments of a fire. Stumps renders a different Hebrew word than in 6.13 and has a different meaning. Here it means “[tail] end.” Firebrands are sticks that have been cut and burned and that are still smoking or smoldering. They can be used to set something on fire. They are potentially dangerous, but the stress here is that they are largely burned out, so they will not be a major threat.
At the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah: For fierce anger, Revised English Bible expresses the Hebrew more closely with “blazing anger.” Bible en français courant (1997) is similar with “burning anger.” Even though these two kings are extremely angry with Judah, they are nothing more than smoldering sticks in God’s sight. The contrast between something smoldering and “blazing” is done deliberately in order to pour scorn on the two of them. The son of Remaliah refers to Pekah. This is the only way he is referred to in this subsection (also in verses 5 and 9). It is not clear why this phrase is used rather than the king’s personal name. Some think it shows contempt for Pekah since his father Remaliah was a mere captain in the army.
Translators should make it clear that the prophet’s words in the last half of this verse are mocking the two kings. Some restructuring of the verse can make the message clearer; for example, Bible en français courant (1997), freely translated, says “You will tell him, ‘Watch out! Keep calm, do not be afraid and do not let yourself be intimidated by the burning anger of Rezin the Syrian and the son of Remaliah. They are nothing more than two pieces of smoking stumps of firewood.’” Other translation examples are:
• Say to Ahaz, “Be cautious and stay very calm. Don’t panic. These two firesticks, Rezin from Syria and [Pekah] the son of Remaliah, may be very angry with you, but they are merely smoldering sticks.
• Tell Ahaz to be very careful and to remain calm. Tell him not to panic or worry about the plans those two have. The burning anger of Rezin and the Syrians and of [Pekah] the son of Remaliah is merely like that of two smoking pieces of firewood.
• Make it very clear to Ahaz that he should be careful and absolutely calm. He must not panic because of what Rezin and the Syrians and [Pekah] the son of Remalaiah plan to do. In their anger they are just trying to start a fire, but their fire will soon go out.
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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.