survive / escape / save

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “survive,” “escape,” “save,” or similar in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) in these verses with pulumuka, describing someone whose life was in danger but who has freed himself or herself. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (Jeremiah 48:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 48:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “And you people of Aroer,
    you stand by the side of the road,
    and/but when you see the people who are fleeing,
    ask (them), ‘What has come (What is happening)?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) who live in Aroer, stand beside the road and watch. You ask to the-(ones)-who have- fled of what had-happened.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You people of Aroer town,
    stand along the road and watch.
    Shout to the men and women who will be fleeing from Moab,
    ‘What has happened there?’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 48:19

Both here and in verse 18, Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Bible en français courant identify at the very first the persons addressed, before giving the message that is spoken to them. In many languages this will give a more natural translation.

Stand by the way and watch may be rendered “stand at the side of the road and wait.”

Inhabitant of Aroer: Aroer was a town on the northern rim of the Arnon River (verse 20), which flows into the Dead Sea at almost its midpoint and forms the northern boundary of Moab. Translators can identify it as “town of Aroer.” The text again has inhabitant in the singular, but the reference is to the population there: “You people who live in Aroer.”

Him who flees is parallel with her who escapes, and so Good News Translation renders “ask those who are running away.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch handles it somewhat differently: “Ask the fleeing men and women, ‘What has happened?’ ”

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 .