complete verse (Jeremiah 29:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 29:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “‘Build (plur.) houses and live (in them). Plow/till the fields and plant and eat the food that you harvest.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘[You (plur.)] build houses and dwell/settle-down there. You (plur.) plant and eat your (plur.) product.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Build houses there, and plan to stay there because you will be there for many years. Plant gardens, and eat the food that is produced in the gardens.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 29:5

Live in them: Good News Translation translates “settle down,” which is essentially the meaning of the expressions used by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Bible en français courant.

Their produce means “what they produce” or “what you grow in them” (Good News Translation). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch expresses the meaning of the last sentence very clearly: “Plant yourselves gardens, since you will be there long enough to eat what you grow in them!”

Build and live in are imperatives. However, in some languages the most natural thing to say in this context would be “You should build houses for yourselves to live in.” Similarly, plant and eat could be expressed as “And you should make gardens to grow food for yourselves.”

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 .