mourn

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “mourn” or similar in English is translated in Newari as “have one’s heart broken” or “have a bursting heart” (source: Newari Back Translation).

In Cherokee it is translated as “going around feeling badly” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16).

Judah, Judea

The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)


“Judah” and “Judea” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Judah, Judah (son of Jacob) , and Tribe of Judah .

Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jerusalem .

complete verse (Jeremiah 14:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 14:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “‘Judah is mourning
    and its cities are falling apart.
    They are crying/groaning for their cities
    and the screaming has also risen up in Jerusalem.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘Juda truly mourns; her towns are-becoming-weak. Her residents sit on the ground in mourning, and crying can-be-heard in Jerusalem.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The people in Judah are very distressed;
    people are sitting on the ground and mourning;
    in all of Jerusalem people are crying loudly.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 14:2

For mourns see 4.28 and 8.21.

Gates is here used to refer to “cities” (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or “towns” (New Jerusalem Bible). A city was enclosed by a wall for protection and was entered by a gate. In this respect a city or town was different from a village or open place in the country.

The verb languish is used elsewhere only in 15.9. In Hebrew it sounds similar to “mourns” and literally means to “dry up” (of the fields in Isa 16.8) or “waste away” (of a woman in 1Sam 2.5).

Her people is literally “they,” but a literal rendering in English would make the pronoun refer back to her gates in the previous line.

Lament is found elsewhere only in 4.28 (Revised Standard Version “be black”) and 8.21. On the ground refers to the custom of lying on the ground as an expression of mourning.

For the first part of the verse translators can say “Judah is in mourning; its cities are wasting away, and the people are lying on the ground in mourning.”

The cry of Jerusalem goes up: The nature of the cry is made clear in Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, which say “Jerusalem cries out for help.” In some languages it may be necessary to indicate that the people of Jerusalem are the ones crying out for help.

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 .