Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jerusalem .

complete verse (Jeremiah 44:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 44:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “I will send to the people living in the land of Egypt pain/punishment. War shall finish some, famine shall kill others and the rest sickness will finish (them) as I did to Jerusalem.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I will-do to you (plur.) here in Egipto what I did in Jerusalem. I will- also -punish you (plur.) by-means-of/with battle, famine, and disease.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I will punish you here in Egypt like I punished others in Jerusalem, some of whom were killed by their enemies’ swords and some of whom died from famines or diseases.” (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 44:13

Those who dwell in the land of Egypt: These are the same people referred to in verse 12 and verse 14 as the “remnant” (Contemporary English Version “you”).

Sword … famine … pestilence: See 14.12.

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 .