complete verse (Jeremiah 52:30)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 52:30:

  • Kupsabiny: “And in the twenty-third year of him having ruled, Nebuzaradan went with seven hundred and forty-five (745) Jews. All the people who were captured and taken to Babylon were four thousand and six hundred (4,600).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “These are the number of the Israelinhon who were taken-captives by King Nebuchadnezzar:
    On the 7th year of his reign, 3,023 people,
    On the 18th year of his reign, 832 people.
    On the 23rd year of his reign, 745 men. Nebuzaradan was the one who took- them -captives.
    4,600 people in all were taken-captives.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When he had been ruling almost 23 years, he sent Nebuzaradan to Jerusalem again, and he brought back 745 more Israelis to Babylonia. That was a total of 4,600 Israelis who were taken to Babylonia.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 52:28 - 52:30

This is the number: Good News Translation “This is the record” is probably more natural in English. Or translators can have something like “Here is the record of the numbers.”

The seventh year; that is, 598-597 B.C. This means the seventh year he was king.

In the translation it must be clear that the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away are the same as the three thousand and twenty-three Jews. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch combines these and translates “Nebuchadnezzar led 3023 men from Judah into captivity.”

The eighteenth year would have been 587-586 B.C. Again, this is the eighteenth year of his reign. There seems little reason to repeat of Nebuchadrezzar.

In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzaradan … carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons: The twenty-third year would have been 582-581 B.C. Translators can render this “in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzardan took away 745 of the Jews.”

All the persons were four thousand and six hundred: This figure is the total of the three groups. It was probably arrived at by counting only the adult male population.

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 .