complete verse (Jeremiah 50:42)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 50:42:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those people are very brutal
    and they have arrows and spears.
    When they come on their horses, they will attack like the roaring of the ocean,
    and they are determined/prepared to fight you people of Babylon.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They are-armed with bows and spears. They are-cruel and without mercy. Their being-loud/noise is-like a strong wave as they ride on their horses. They will-arrive ready to attack you residents of Babilonia.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Their army has bows and arrows and spears;
    they are very cruel, and do not act mercifully to anyone.
    As they ride along on their horses,
    the sound of the horses’ hooves is like the roaring of the ocean waves;
    they are riding in battle formation
    to attack you, you people of Babylon.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

In Malagasy culture, the sea is perceived as sacred because it was a path taken by the ancestors. That is why the Malagasy word for the “sea” is ranomasina, which literally means “the sacred water.” The word masina actually has two different meanings: “salted” and “sacred/holy.” Salt is used for the conservation of some foods, such as meat or fish, that are to be set aside for later use. In this sense, the Malagasy phrase for “Holy Spirit” has the literal meaning of “Salted Spirit.” (Source: Brigitte Rabarijaona in The Bible Translator 2022, p. 103ff.)

2nd person pronoun with low register (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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 50:41 - 50:43

For these verses, see 6.22-24. There are really only two differences between the two passages. Here Babylonia replaces “Zion [that is, Jerusalem],” and The king of Babylonia replaces “We [the people of Jerusalem].”

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 .