Judah, Judea

The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)


“Judah” and “Judea” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Judah, Judah (son of Jacob) , and Tribe of Judah .

complete verse (Jeremiah 44:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 44:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “I shall destroy the remnant of Judah that chose to go to the land of Egypt. I will destroy all from the famous to those who are not famous. War shall eat/finish some and others, famine shall finish. That will be very fierce/bad/serious and those people will be spoken badly about as they are being cursed.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) who are left alive in Juda who certainly insisted to come and stay here in Egipto, you all will-die from the least to the greatest. Yes, you will-die here by battle or famine. You will-be-cursed, disdained, considered-bad, and mocked.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You people from Judah who have survived were determined to come and live here in Egypt. So I will get rid of all of you here in Egypt. Every one of you will die, including those who are important and those who are not important. Some of you will be killed by your enemies’ swords, some will die from famines. You will become people whom others curse, be horrified about, and make fun of.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (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 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.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 44:12

Verses 12-14 expand on how the LORD will “cut off [or destroy] all Judah.” The remnant are those who have gone to … Egypt to live (verses 12 and 14). They will be punished just like those who were back in Jerusalem (verse 13). Since they are the people Jeremiah is actually bringing the LORD’s message to, they may be addressed as “you” if a translation is using direct speech. Contemporary English Version, for example, begins this verse by saying, “There were only a few of you left in Judah, and you decided to go to Egypt. But you will die….”

I will take is handled in different ways. One way is “I will take charge” or “I take in my charge” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Another is to link this verb with be consumed; Good News Translation does this with “I will see to it that all of them are destroyed.”

The remnant of Judah; that is, “the people of Judah who are left” (Good News Translation) or “you people who have come…” (see above).

Set their faces is here used with the meaning of “determined” (see 42.15).

Good News Translation takes the two verbs be consumed and shall fall as equivalent and renders “that all of them are destroyed.” In languages where the passive is not natural, translators can say, for example, “that an enemy destroys them all.”

By the sword and by famine they shall be consumed may be rendered “They will die in warfare or from starvation.” The sword is usually rendered “war” (Good News Translation). See 5.12. Although by the sword and by famine occurs twice in the text, it will be more natural in many languages to use the expression only once, as in Good News Translation.

From the least to the greatest; that is, “all of them from the least important to the most important.” See 6.13.

Execration … horror … curse … taunt: See 42.18.

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 .