vanity

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “vanity,” “emptiness,” “breath,” or similar in English is translated in Mandarin Chinese as xūkōng (虚空) or “hollow,” “empty.” This is a term that is loaned from Buddhist terminology where it is used for Akasha (Sanskrit: आकाश). (Source: Zetzsche)

complete verse (Jeremiah 10:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 10:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “What these people pray to is useless/futile.
    A person goes to cut down a tree from the bush
    and then he gives (it) to another person to shape (it) with a chisel.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The custom of those people are without value. They cut a tree in the forest and they have- it -carved by a carpenter.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The customs of the people of other nations are worthless.
    For example, they cut down a tree in the forest.
    Then a skilled worker/craftsman cuts a section of it and uses his chisel to carve an idol from that section.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 10:3

Customs here refers to the religious practices of the people, which is the basis for Good News Translation “the religion of these people is worthless.” Translators could also say something like “the way those people worship God [or, their gods] is worthless.”

False is translated “worthlessness” in 2.5; see also “worthless” in 10.15 (Revised Standard Version).

In what follows (verses 3b-5) Jeremiah provides a more detailed explanation of what he means by the first line. It is a description of how people make an idol to worship; but in the Hebrew and most English versions, this is not made clear until verse 5. In some languages this section will be much easier to understand if the key information is given at the beginning of the description; for example, “They cut down a tree and carve an idol” (New Living Translation).

A tree from the forest is cut down may need to be transformed into an active construction: “People go into the forest and cut a tree down.”

Worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman: This may also need to be restructured; for example, “a woodworker uses his tools to carve it.” The actual word for axe in the Hebrew refers more accurately to an “adze,” a tool that resembles an axe, but has a curved blade fixed at a right angle so that it can be used for smoothing wood.

One of the most common words for “idol” in Jeremiah has the root meaning of “to hew into shape,” thereby referring to something made by people, normally from wood (see 10.14; 50.38; 51.17, 47, 52, where Revised Standard Version has either “idols” or “images”).

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .