complete verse (Jeremiah 22:22)

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

  • Kupsabiny: “A wind will snatch your leaders,
    those who came to your aid will be driven away to become prisoners.
    That is when you will be ashamed and disgraced
    on account of all your sin.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I will-scatter all your (plur.) leaders/[lit. heads] like chaff being-blown by the wind, and your (plur.) allied nations will-be-taken-captive. You (plur.) will- surely -be-put-to-shame because of all your (plur.) wickedness.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So, now I will punish all your leaders;
    it will be as though they have been blown away by the wind.
    They will be captured by your enemies and taken to another country.
    When that happens, you will truly be ashamed and disgraced
    because of all the wicked things that you have done.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 22:22

The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds: An obvious play on words is intended between the verb shepherd and the noun shepherds. Since the shepherds are the nation’s leaders (see 2.8; 3.15), the meaning is “Your leaders will be blown away by the wind” (Good News Translation). However, it may be better to replace the metaphor with a simile, as in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, which translates the first two lines as follows: “As your allies, so shall all of your own leaders be led away into captivity; they will all be swept away as by a storm.”

As in verse 20, lovers refers to “allies” or “leaders.”

For captivity see 15.2.

Ashamed: See 2.26 and 2.36.

Confounded: See 14.3, where ashamed also occurs.

Your wickedness; that is, “the wicked things you have done” or “how evil you have been.”

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 .