וְשִׁלַּמְתִּ֣י רִֽאשׁוֹנָ֗ה מִשְׁנֵ֤ה עֲוֺנָם֙ וְחַטָּאתָ֔ם עַ֖ל חַלְּלָ֣ם אֶת־אַרְצִ֑י בְּנִבְלַ֤ת שִׁקּֽוּצֵיהֶם֙ וְתוֹעֲב֣וֹתֵיהֶ֔ם מָלְא֖וּ אֶת־נַחֲלָתִֽי׃ ס
18And I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.
The Hebrew that is translated as “abomination” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “hated thing” and in Kwere as zitibusa which means “evil” but also something that causes horror or disgust and revolts people. (Source for both: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
in Ngambay it is nékɔb or “taboo.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
See also detestable in the sight of God and holy.
The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “idol(s)” in English is translated in Central Subanen as ledawan or “images” (source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. ) and in Cherokee “imaginary gods” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16).
In German, typically the term Götze is used. Originally this was used as a term of endearment for Gott (“God” — see here ), later for “icon” and “image, likeness.” Luther started to use it in the 16th century in the meaning of “false god, idol.” Other terms that are used in German include Götzenbild(er) (“image[s] of idols”) or Bildnis (“image” — Protestant) / Kultbild (“cultish image” — Catholic) (used for instance in Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 5:8). The latest revision of the Catholic Einheitsübersetzung (publ. 2016) also uses the neologism Nichtse (“nothings”) in 1 Chron. 16:26 and Psalm 96:5. (Source: Zetzsche)
See also worthless idols.
The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is typically translated as “sin” in English has a wide variety of translations.
The Greek ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) carries the original verbatim meaning of “miss the mark” and likewise, many translations contain the “connotation of moral responsibility.”
In Shipibo-Conibo the term is hocha. Nida (1952, p. 149) tells the story of its choosing: “In some instances a native expression for sin includes many connotations, and its full meaning must be completely understood before one ever attempts to use it. This was true, for example, of the term hocha first proposed by Shipibo-Conibo natives as an equivalent for ‘sin.’ The term seemed quite all right until one day the translator heard a girl say after having broken a little pottery jar that she was guilty of ‘hocha.’ Breaking such a little jar scarcely seemed to be sin. However, the Shipibos insisted that hocha was really sin, and they explained more fully the meaning of the word. It could be used of breaking a jar, but only if the jar belonged to someone else. Hocha was nothing more nor less than destroying the possessions of another, but the meaning did not stop with purely material possessions. In their belief God owns the world and all that is in it. Anyone who destroys the work and plan of God is guilty of hocha. Hence the murderer is of all men most guilty of hocha, for he has destroyed God’s most important possession in the world, namely, man. Any destructive and malevolent spirit is hocha, for it is antagonistic and harmful to God’s creation. Rather than being a feeble word for some accidental event, this word for sin turned out to be exceedingly rich in meaning and laid a foundation for the full presentation of the redemptive act of God.”
In Warao it is translated as “bad obojona.” Obojona is a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions.” (Source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. ). See other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.
Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the Danish Bibelen 2020, comments on the translation of this term: “We would explain terms, such that e.g. sin often became ‘doing what God does not want’ or ‘breaking God’s law’, ‘letting God down’, ‘disrespecting God’, ‘doing evil’, ‘acting stupidly’, ‘becoming guilty’. Now why couldn’t we just use the word sin? Well, sin in contemporary Danish, outside of the church, is mostly used about things such as delicious but unhealthy foods. Exquisite cakes and chocolates are what a sin is today.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
See also sinner.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 16:18:
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”.
The Hebrew of this verse has the word “first” near the beginning, but Revised Standard Version follows the Septuagint, which deletes it. A number of translations either omit this word or else assume that it will be understood in their rendering (Good News Translation, New International Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Moffatt, An American Translation). Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends that it be retained in translation, since it is an integral part of the Hebrew. It is best understood as indicating that in this verse the LORD is saying what he will do to the people before he delivers them, as promised in verses 14 and 15. Translators may therefore say something like “First” (similarly Revised English Bible), “But first” (Luther 1984), “Before I do that,” or “Before I deliver them.”
I will doubly recompense their iniquity and their sin: I will doubly recompense is expressed in Good News Translation as “I will make … pay double.” Iniquity (see verse 17) is first found in 2.22. It is here used in parallel with sin (see 5.25). Translators can say “I will make them pay double for their evildoing and sin.”
They have polluted my land: The expression polluted my land refers to defiling the land by doing things that dishonor the LORD. They have made it ceremonially unclean. Translators may therefore use here the expression they have used elsewhere for “unclean” in a ritual sense, or they can say “they have made my land unfit for me [or, for my worship].”
Translators may link sin in the previous clause with polluted, as in “… their evildoing and their sin of making my land unclean.”
Detestable idols translates one word in Hebrew which is rendered as “abominations” by Revised Standard Version in 4.1. Here it can be “[idols] which I hate [or, detest].” In the text these idols are described as carcasses, which New International Version renders “lifeless forms of their vile images.” Thus there are two things to say about these idols: they are lifeless, and the LORD hates them. Translators may render the second clause of the verse “they have defiled my land with their idols, which have no life and which I hate” or “they have made my land unfit for me by filling it with lifeless idols, which are a horror to me.”
My inheritance is translated “it” by Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, referring back to my land; Revised English Bible has “my possession” and New Jerusalem Bible “my heritage.” The expression is parallel to my land, but has the additional meaning of “chosen” or “possessed.” See 2.7, where it is rendered “my heritage.”
The word here rendered abominations (Good News Translation “false gods”) is first used in 2.7. It is parallel with detestable idols, and is usually translated as “vile and disgusting things.” The last two clauses of the verse can be rendered “They have defiled my land with the lifeless idols I hate; they filled the land I chose for myself with things that disgust me.”
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 .
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