army

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin that is translated as “army” in English is translated in Chichewa as “group of warriors.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Chaldean

The name that is transliterated as “Chaldean” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) 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 .

complete verse (Jeremiah 37:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 37:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “Even if you fought the soldiers of Babylon and you speared them until only the wounded were left in the tents, those would get up and set fire to this city and destroy it.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Even if you defeat the entire soldiers of Babilonia who are attacking you (plur.), and the survivors among them were the wounded ones who are in their tents, they still would attack you (plur.) and they will-burn this city.’ ’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “And even if your soldiers could destroy almost all of the soldiers from Babylonia who are attacking you, and allow only a few of them who were wounded to remain alive in their tents, they would come out of their tents and burn this city completely!’ ’ ’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 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 37:10

For even if …: Jeremiah underlines the absolute futility of fighting against the Babylonians, since it is the LORD’s will for them to capture the city of Jerusalem. Even if every man in the entire Babylonian army was lying in his tent “severely wounded” (Bright), they would still be able to get up and destroy the city of Jerusalem.

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 .