Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 42:12:
Kupsabiny: “I will have compassion on you and make that king to feel mercy also and cause you to return to your homes.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I will-have-mercy on you (plur.). I will-work on him that he will-have-mercy on you (plur.), that he will-allow you to stay in your land.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “I will be merciful to you by causing him to act kindly toward you. So as a result, he will allow you to stay here in your land.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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.
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).
There is a cause and result relationship between the first two clauses of the verse: I will grant you mercy (cause) and that he may have mercy on you (result). New Jerusalem Bible has expressed the relationship well with “I shall take pity on you, so that he pities you,” as has Good News Translation with “Because I am merciful, I will make him have mercy on you.”
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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