provoke (to anger)

The Hebrew that is translated as “provoke (to anger)” in English is translated in Newari as “causing one’s anger to come out” (source: Newari Back Translation).

anger

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The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “anger” or similar in English in this verse is translated with a variety of solutions (Bratcher / Nida says: “Since anger has so many manifestations and seems to affect so many aspects of personality, it is not strange that expressions used to describe this emotional response are so varied”).

  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “be warm inside”
  • Mende: “have a cut heart”
  • Mískito: “have a split heart”
  • Tzotzil: “have a hot heart”
  • Mossi: “a swollen heart”
  • Western Kanjobal: “fire of the viscera”
  • San Blas Kuna: “pain in the heart”
  • Chimborazo Highland Quichua: “not with good eye”
  • Chichewa: “have a burning heart” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) (see also anger burned in him)
  • Citak: two different terms, one meaning “angry” and one meaning “offended,” both are actually descriptions of facial expressions. The former can be represented by an angry stretching of the eyes or by an angry frown. The latter is similarly expressed by an offended type of frown with one’s head lowered. (Source: Graham Ogden)

In Akan, a number of metaphors are used, most importantly abufuo, lit. “weedy chest” (the chest is seen as a container that contains the heart but can also metaphorically be filled with other fluids etc.), but also abufuhyeε lit. “hot/burning weedy chest” and anibereε, lit. “reddened eyes.” (Source: Gladys Nyarko Ansah in Kövecses / Benczes / Szelid 2024, p. 21ff.)

See also God’s anger and angry.

Chaldean

The name that is transliterated as “Chaldean” in English means “astrologer,” “wanderers.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) it is translated with the sign that combines “Mesopotamia” (see here) and “spreading out,” since the Chaldeans originated in southern Mesopotamia and spread out from there. (Source: Missão Kophós )


“Chaldean” in Libras (source )

More information about Chaldea .

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

complete verse (Jeremiah 32:29)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 32:29:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those people of Babylon will enter the city and set it on fire. They will also burn the houses where sacrifices that smell sweetly were made to Baal on the roofs and wine was poured out to the idols, inciting me to become angry.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They will-burn it/this, as-well-as the houses wherein the roofs of these (are) the-place-of-incense-being-burnt for Baal and the-place- the-drink-offering -is-being-offered for the other (false)-gods, which really provoked- me -to-anger.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The soldiers of Babylonia who are now outside the walls around the city will enter and burn this city. They will burn down all the houses where people caused me to become angry by burning incense on the tops of their roofs to honor Baal and by pouring out offerings of wine to other gods.” (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 32:29

Good News Translation does not find it natural or necessary in English to repeat the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city. This will be the case in many other languages also.

With the houses on whose roofs incense has been offered to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods: Compare 19.13 with the terms used here. As Hebrew Old Testament Text Project indicates, with the houses … is best taken emphatically, “especially the houses….” The indication is that those places where incense was once offered to Baal will themselves now be burned as offerings to the LORD. The roofs were flat, with access from outside the house, and were designed to accommodate various activities (see 19.13). As such, they were ideal locations for offering incense (see 1.16) and drink offerings (see 7.18), which were probably wine (Good News Translation “pouring out wine offerings”), rather than water. For Baal see 2.8. For other gods, see 1.16. If “God” cannot be made into a plural, translators can say something like “other things [or, idols] people worship [as they do God].”

In the text, to provoke me to anger comes at the end of the sentence (see 7.18). Translators can say “These things made me angry” or “These are the things that made me angry.” However, Good News Translation has made the clause fit naturally in the verse with “the houses where people have made me angry by burning incense.”

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 .