Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 22:14:
Kupsabiny: “He says, ‘I will build a big house, with wide inner rooms on the upper floor.’ So he constructs it with big windows, and beats/panels the sides with cedar and paints/smears it red.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “You (sing.) say, ‘I will-build a palace with wide/spacious upper rooms. I will-place/put-on-(it) large windows and will-wall-(it) with cedar, and then have-(it)-painted with red.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Long ago the majestic cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) completely covered the upper slopes of the Lebanon Mountains on the western and northern sides. Now only a few pockets of these mighty cedars remain. At that time they were mixed, as they are today, with other trees such as Cilician fir, Grecian juniper, cypress, and Calabrian pine.
We know from 1 Kings that Solomon used cedar wood in his palace and in the Temple. Cedar was used for beams, boards, pillars, and ceilings. Historians tell us that the Assyrians also hauled cedars to their land for use in buildings. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon also imported cedars from Lebanon. In some versions of Isaiah we read that people made idols of cedar and oak (44:14-20). Finally, when the Temple was rebuilt by the returning exiles (Ezra 3:7), they again cut down cedar trees to grace the house of God.
In 2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles and Ezra, when Lebanon is specifically mentioned, there can be no doubt that ’erez is Cedrus libani, the “cedar of Lebanon,” although it is possible that sometimes the word was used loosely to include various evergreen trees.
In the description of the purification rituals (Leviticus 14:4 at al.), the word ’erez probably refers to the Phoenician juniper tree, since that was the only cedar-like tree in the Sinai Desert.
Cedar trees can reach 30 meters (100 feet) high with a trunk more than 2 meters (7 feet) in diameter. The leaves of true cedars are not flat like those of most trees, but consist of tufts of dark green, shiny spines. (The cedars in North America have a flatter type of spine than the biblical cedar.) The wood is fragrant and resistant to insects. Cedars bear cones and can live to be two or three thousand years old.
The cedar of Lebanon is famous for its large size (see Isaiah 2:13 et al.), and for the fragrance of its wood. Psalm 92:12 links the cedar to righteousness, that is, presumably, to its straightness and height above other trees. The cedar is the national emblem of Lebanon.
Cedrus species are found in the mountains of North Africa, in the Himalayas, in India, and in North America. Translators in these places, should, of course, use the local name in nonfigurative references. In sub Saharan Africa, translators can transliterate from Hebrew (’erez), Greek (kedar), English (sedar), or another major language, or they can take a generic solution such as “large, beautiful tree.” In poetic passages (wisdom literature and prophecy), some translators may wish to use a cultural equivalent with these traits. In Africa, according to Burkhill (The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa, volume 4. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, 1985), the Pink Mahogany Guarea cedrata is also called the pink African cedar because of the cedar-like scent of its timber. Likewise, some people in India and Australia use “cedar” to refer to the toon because of its reddish wood. I do not recommend such substitutes in historical passages, since the ’erez is not related to these trees. In some figurative passages, however, the substitution could be effective, since all are large trees with reddish wood. However, each passage has to be evaluated to determine the intended effect of the image.
The list of reasons why Jehoiakim is doomed continues. Good News Translation begins a new sentence here and repeats “Doomed.” Translators could also say “Woe also to the man who says” or “How terrible it will be for that man, because he also says.”
There is no way to determine precisely the size of a house described as great or the size of the upper rooms described as spacious. However, this verse describes more signs of luxury.
Cuts out windows for it: Windows would have functioned to let in air and light. The same noun appears in 9.21 (9.20 in Hebrew); it is also used of the windows in the boat built by Noah (Gen 8.6) and in the temple built by Solomon (1Kgs 6.4). Instead of cuts out windows for it, most translators use something such as “he builds it with large windows” or “he builds large windows for the house.”
Paneling can be expressed as “making the inside of the walls of wood boards” or “lining the walls with boards.”
Although most translations retain cedar, it is most probable that the wood used was fir or from some other evergreen tree with a trunk long enough for building. See verse 7 for cedar. Here translators can say either “wood of the cedar tree” or “very high quality wood.”
Painting it with vermilion: Vermilion refers to a red pigment used for paint. Good News Translation has “paints it red,” as does Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch.
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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.