The Hebrew that is translated as “provoke (to anger)” in English is translated in Newari as “causing one’s anger to come out” (source: Newari Back Translation).
all nations, all the gentiles
The Greek, Latin and Ge’ez that is translated as “all the gentiles” or “all nations” in English is translated as “all people” in Tzeltal, as “all mankind” in Highland Totonac, or “the peoples who are everywhere” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
anger
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “anger” or similar in English in this verse is translated with a variety of solutions (Bratcher / Nida says: “Since anger has so many manifestations and seems to affect so many aspects of personality, it is not strange that expressions used to describe this emotional response are so varied”).
- Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “be warm inside”
- Mende: “have a cut heart”
- Mískito: “have a split heart”
- Tzotzil: “have a hot heart”
- Mossi: “a swollen heart”
- Western Kanjobal: “fire of the viscera”
- San Blas Kuna: “pain in the heart”
- Chimborazo Highland Quichua: “not with good eye”
- Chichewa: “have a burning heart” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) (see also anger burned in him)
- Citak: two different terms, one meaning “angry” and one meaning “offended,” both are actually descriptions of facial expressions. The former can be represented by an angry stretching of the eyes or by an angry frown. The latter is similarly expressed by an offended type of frown with one’s head lowered. (Source: Graham Ogden)
In Akan, a number of metaphors are used, most importantly abufuo, lit. “weedy chest” (the chest is seen as a container that contains the heart but can also metaphorically be filled with other fluids etc.), but also abufuhyeε lit. “hot/burning weedy chest” and anibereε, lit. “reddened eyes.” (Source: Gladys Nyarko Ansah in Kövecses / Benczes / Szelid 2024, p. 21ff.)
See also God’s anger and angry.
gentiles / nations
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).
Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).
In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
See also nations.
complete verse (Jeremiah 44:8)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 44:8:
- Kupsabiny: “Oh, what is this you are doing in this land of Egypt where you have migrated to? Are you not making me sick (about to vomit) when you worship idols? What is wrong with you so you burn things that smell sweet to (them)? Are you destroying yourselves on your own and the land/world will mock you and you bring shame on yourselves from/in all the communities in the whole world?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “Why do you really provoke- me -to-anger by the gods which you have-made? You even burn incense to them here in Egipto, where you (plur.) are- now -staying. You (plur.) are- just -destroying yourself and making (yourself) detestable and shameful/embarrassing to all nations in the world.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- English: “Why are you provoking me and causing me to be very angry by burning incense to the idols that you have made here in Egypt? If you continue doing this, you will destroy yourselves, and you will cause yourselves to be people whom all the nations on the earth will curse and despise.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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).
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 44:8
The works of your hands: The reference may be either to the idols that the people have made or to the things that they have done. Moffatt renders “your practices” and Revised English Bible “your idol-worship.” New Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Bible en français courant (“your actions”) follow the interpretation represented in Moffatt, while Good News Translation (“worshiping idols”) accepts the alternative interpretation. New International Version (“what your hands have made”) suggests idolatry, though the translation is somewhat ambiguous. Translators can follow either of the interpretations, or even use a neutral construction such as “the things you do with your hands.”
Be cut off basically means “be destroyed.” See the previous verse.
A curse: See 24.9 (also 25.18; 26.6; 29.22; 42.18; 44.12, 22; 49.13).
A taunt: See 6.10, where Revised Standard Version has “object of scorn.” Good News Translation finds it more natural in English to reverse the order of curse and taunt.
As in the previous verse, the long rhetorical question can either be broken into two (as in Good News Translation), or the thrust can be conveyed by a statement followed by a short question:
• You make me angry by the things you do with your hands, when you offer sacrifices to these other gods here in Egypt where you have come to live. Why do you do it? [or, Is that the right way to behave?] By doing this you will destroy yourselves, and every nation on earth will make fun of you and use your name as a curse. Is that what you want? [or, Why do you want to do that?]
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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.