complete verse (Jeremiah 26:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 26:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “But I am in your hands, so, do to me what you think is good and just/right.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “As for me, I cannot do anything. You (plur.) do to me whatever is good and right for you (plur.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “As for me, I am not able to free myself from your grasp. So you can do to me whatever you want to do.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 26:14

In the Hebrew text the pronouns me and I are emphatic.

For behold see 1.6.

The expression I am in your hands means “I am in your power.”

Do with me as seems good and right to you is expressed in Bible en français courant as “do to me what you think is just.”

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 .