Translation commentary on Jeremiah 42:4

Jeremiah the prophet: It is doubtful if Jeremiah should be identified as the prophet in both verses 2 and 4. In fact, it would probably be best for most translations to omit this information in both instances.

I have heard you; behold: The meaning is more than simply acknowledging that Jeremiah has heard what the people are asking; it indicates also that he will do what they ask. Hence Good News Translation has “Very well, then.” For behold see 1.6.

The Hebrew text has your God. However, Good News Translation has followed the Septuagint with “our God.” We recommend following the Hebrew.

Your request is literally “your words” in Hebrew. However, it is used in parallel with “supplication” in verse 2, and so Good News Translation renders “just as you have asked.”

Jeremiah’s response is intensified by the use of both a positive form (I will tell you) and a negative (I will keep nothing back).

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 .

humble form of "understand" (shōchi suru)

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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 to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In these verses, shōchi suru (承知する), a humble form of wakaru (分かる) or “understand” is used. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )