complete verse (Jeremiah 31:25)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 31:25:

  • Kupsabiny: “I will strengthen the tired and feed those who are famished.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “For the-(ones) who are-weary I will- have (them) -rest and I will-satisfy/fill-up all the-(ones) who are-weak of hunger. Therefore the people will-say,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I will enable weary people to rest, and enable people who are very exhausted to become strong again.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 31:25

The weary soul refers to the individual, and is here used collectively, which gives the basis for Good News Translation “those who are weary.” Moreover, a verb such as “refresh” (Good News Translation, New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible) suits the context better than satisfy (Revised Standard Version). The adjective weary is formed from the verb rendered “faint” by Revised Standard Version in 4.31.

Every languishing soul: The construction is the same as weary soul (Good News Translation “everyone who is weak from hunger”). The participle translated languishing is made from the verb rendered “languish” in verse 12. Elsewhere in the Old Testament it is found only in Psa 88.9, where Revised Standard Version renders “grows dim.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch distinguishes the meaning of languishing from weary: “All who are weary from thirst, I will give them something to drink, and all who are famished from hunger, I will feed them richly!” But some versions do not bring out the element of “hunger” in the last clause, and instead have a rendering such as “I will strengthen every person who has no strength left.”

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 .