The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated in English as “hardened” or “stubborn” is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible idiomatically as taurin kai or “tough head.”
Other languages spoken in Nigeria translate similarly: Abua uses oḅom ẹmhu or “strong head,” Bura-Pabirkəra ɓəɓal or “hard head,” Gokanaagẹ̀ togó or “hard/strong head,” Igedeegbeju-ọngịrị or “hard head,” Deragɨddɨng koi or “strong head,” Resheɾiʃitə ɾigbaŋgba or “strong head,” and in Chadian Arabicraas gawi (رَاسْكُو قَوِي) or “hard head” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Other translation approaches include Western Bukidnon Manobo with “breath is very hard” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation) or Ixil with “callous heart” (source: Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 40).
The Greek, Latin, and Hebrew that is typically translated as “prostitute” in English (in some, mostly earlier translation also as “harlot” or “whore”) is translated in the 2024 revision of the inter-confessional LatvianJauna Pārstrādāta latviešu Bībele as netikle or “hussy.” This replaced the previous translation mauka or “whore.” Nikita Andrejevs, editor of the Bible explains the previous and current translations: “The translators at the time felt that this strong word best described the thought contained in the main text. Many had objections, as it seemed that this word would not be the most appropriate for public reading in church.” (Source: Updated Bible published in Latvia ).
Other translations include:
Bariai: “a woman of the road” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “a woman who sells her body” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Uma: “a woman whose behavior is not appropriate” or “a loose woman” (source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “a bad woman” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a woman who make money through their reputation” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “a woman who makes money with her body” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “a woman whose womanhood is repeatedly-bought” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 3:3:
Kupsabiny: “That is what has held back the rain, and even the early rain does not rain. You were stubborn/hard-headed like an adulteress who has no shame.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “That is why it did- not -rain in time of rainy-season. For you (plur.) are now like a woman who sells her body, who has really no shame.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “That is why I have not sent you any rain at the times of the year when you needed it. But you are like prostitutes who are not at all ashamed for what they have done.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Showers (so also 14.22) are the mild rains that fall between October and December; the spring rain comes in the months of March and April. These may also be referred to as “the early rains” and “the late rains” (compare 5.24), and both are necessary for a successful crop. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “Therefore no rains have fallen, neither in the fall nor in the spring of the year.” With the LORD as the expressed subject, we may translate “That is why, I, the LORD, withheld the showers in the fall and the rain in the spring.”
A harlot’s brow lends itself to two different interpretations: (1) it may refer to some distinguishing mark by which a woman was identified as a prostitute; or (2) it may symbolize stubbornness (see Isa 48.4). Good News Translation seems to follow the first interpretation, Jerusalem Bible (see below) the second.
You refuse to be ashamed may support either of these interpretations, though it tends to favor the second. Both Moffatt (“and yet you were as brazen as a harlot, you would not blush for it”), followed closely by New International Version, and Jerusalem Bible (“And you maintained a prostitute’s bold front, never thinking to blush”) express this meaning. Following the first interpretation would give something such as “You have the look of a prostitute, and refuse to be ashamed.” For ashamed see 2.26.
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 .
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