complete verse (Jeremiah 42:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 42:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “So, know that you will be killed with swords and die in battle, hunger will burn you up and sicknesses will finish you in that country you wish to go and live in.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore I assure you (plur.) that you (plur.) will- surely -die in battle, famine, and disease there in Egipto, where you want to stay/live.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You want to go to Egypt and live there. So now, you can be sure of this: All of you will die there. Some of you will be killed by the swords of your enemies and others will die from famines or from diseases.’” (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 42:22

Sword … famine … pestilence: See verse 17 and 14.12.

The place may be rendered “the country” or “the land” (see verse 18). Contemporary English Version and New Living Translation identify this as “Egypt” (see verses 14-19).

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 .