Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 44:10:
Kupsabiny: “Until today you have not humbled yourselves or obeyed, and you have not followed my laws and wishes that I gave you and your forefathers.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Until now you have- not -humble yourself and honored me. You also have- not -obeyed my law and the statutes which I gave to you and to your ancestors.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Up until this day you have not humbled yourselves or revered me. You have not obeyed the laws and decrees that I gave to you and your ancestors.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The Greek, Hebrew, and Ge’ez that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
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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.
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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).
Revised Standard Version follows the form of the Hebrew by retaining they in the first half of this verse and you … your in the second half of the verse, while Good News Translation uses “you” and “your” throughout.
Humbled themselves: Although there is some uncertainty about the Hebrew text, this is the meaning preferred by most present-day versions. Translators have followed two basic approaches to this expression. Some have an expression such as “show remorse” or “be contrite.” Others retain the term “humble.” However, some languages will require that translators say who the people are humble in relation to, as in “make themselves humble before me.”
Feared: Since this verb describes the people’s attitude towards the LORD, a number of translations use the idea of “honor,” “reverence,” or “respect” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). In many languages feared will require an object, as in “honored the LORD [or, me].”
Walked in my law and my statutes which I set before you and your fathers: See 26.4. Walked refers to a person’s conduct, so that walked in my law and my statutes means to live and behave in accordance with the laws the LORD gave the people. Law first comes in 2.8. Statutes is first used in 5.24 (Revised Standard Version “appointed”), but found also in verse 23 and in 10.3 (Revised Standard Version “customs”); 31.35 (Revised Standard Version “fixed order”); 33.25 (Revised Standard Version “ordinances”). It is impossible to differentiate between the two terms, and in all probability, when they are used together they represent a set phrase. Good News Translation renders “all the laws that I gave 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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