27I am going to watch over them for harm and not for good; all the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall perish by the sword and by famine until not one is left.
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)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 44:27:
Kupsabiny: “I am preparing for you evil and certainly not goodness. I will destroy all you people of Judah in battle or famine so that not even one person shall remain.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “For instead that I will-watch you (plur.) for your good, I will-harm you. You (plur.) will-die here in Egipto by battle or famine until no one will-be-left among you.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Because I will be watching over you, not to cause good things to happen to you but to cause things to happen that will harm you. Almost everyone from Judah who is now here in Egypt will experience being killed by their enemies’ swords, or dying from famine.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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.
I am watching over them for evil and not for good: For watching over them, compare 1.11-12. For the expression for evil and not for good, compare 21.10 and 39.16. Good News Translation renders “I will see to it that you will not prosper, but will be destroyed.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “Since I shall no longer be concerned about your welfare, but only for your destruction.”
All the men probably refers to all the people, not just the males.
Consumed: As throughout this passage, the meaning is “killed.” See verse 12.
The sword is here used symbolically of war (see 5.12).
Famine may be rendered “disease” (Good News Translation), which follows as a natural consequence of war. See verse 12.
Until there is an end of them: Good News Translation, using a second person form of address, translates “until not one of you is left.”
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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