sell

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sell” in English is translated in Noongar as wort-bangal or “away-barter.” Note that “buy” is translated as bangal-barranga or “get-barter.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)

See also buy and buying / selling.

complete verse (Jeremiah 34:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 34:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “Each one among you should release his brother who is a Hebrew at every seventh year. That should be done when six years have passed from when he sold himself (into slavery). But your forefathers refused to listen or hear what I was saying to (them).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘In every seventh year you need to set-free your fellow Hebrew who has-been-sold to you as a slave. After he has served you six years, you really must set- him/her -free.’ But your ancestors never obeyed or listened to me.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I told them that they must free all their Hebrew slaves after the slaves had worked for them for six years. But your ancestors did not pay any attention to what I said.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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”.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 34:14

Six years: As the Revised Standard Version note indicates, the Hebrew has “seven years.” It is the opinion of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project that the expression means “at the end of a period of seven years,” and so should be translated in that way. Other scholars suggest that the meaning is “when the seventh year arrives,” and note that it is wrong to follow the Septuagint (as the Revised Standard Version does), since the language of the verse comes directly from Deut 15.1, 12.

The fellow Hebrew: As noted at verse 9, the reference is to male and female slaves, not just to the men, as the use of the masculine pronoun him might lead readers to understand. Translators can use “them” or some other inclusive expression.

Your fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me: Here again, fathers can be rendered “ancestors.” The two expressions listen to and incline their ears convey essentially the same meaning: “your ancestors did not listen to me and would not pay attention” (New Jerusalem Bible); “Your forefathers did not listen to me or obey me” (Revised English Bible). These two expressions are used together also in 17.23; see also 7.24, for the first occurrence of “incline their ear.”

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 .