greedy for money / dishonest/selfish/unjust gain / bribery

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “greedy for money,” “dishonest/selfish/unjust gain,” “bribery,” or similar in English is translated in these verses in the Protestant Mandarin Chinese Union Version and the Catholic Sigao version with a historical Chinese idiom: bùyìzhī cái (不義之財 / 不义之财) or “ill-gotten gains.” (Source: Toshikazu S. Foley in Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies, 2011, p. 45ff.)

The Catholic Sigao version additionally uses the idiom in the referenced verses in Sirach.

complete verse (Jeremiah 22:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 22:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “But your eyes are staring
    and your stomach wants the things that have been stolen,
    the blood of innocent people is shed
    and other people are suppressed.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But you (sing.) on-the-other-hand, your (sing.) desire is only to deceive, kill the innocent-ones, oppress and gain-money.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 22:17

Eyes and heart represent a person’s total being.

Dishonest gain translates a noun in Hebrew which has as its basic meaning “something [cut off].” In this sense it occurs in 51.13 (“the thread of your life is cut”). However, the word came to be used also of profit made in an illegal way (Gen 37.26). Interestingly, in colloquial English “your cut” could have precisely this meaning. Some versions have “your profit,” but others have “your illegal profit” or “dishonest profit.” See 6.13 and 8.10, where Revised Standard Version has “unjust gain.”

For the first two lines, Bible en français courant has “But you’re interested only in what brings you profit” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “But you see only what’s to your own advantage and you think of nothing else.”

Shedding innocent blood: See 7.6; 22.3; 26.15.

Oppression occurs elsewhere only in 6.6. In many languages it is necessary to indicate who the oppression is directed against, as in “oppressing people” or “treating people cruelly.”

The noun translated violence is found only here in the Old Testament. As with oppression, translators may have to supply some victim of violence, perhaps “treating people violently” or, in combination with oppression, “using force to oppress people.” Good News Translation “violently oppress your people” is also a good model.

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 .