complete verse (Jeremiah 5:30)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 5:30:

  • Kupsabiny: “There has happened in this land
    bad and horrible matters.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “(It is) horrible and shocking thing had-happened in this land:” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Very appalling/horrible and terrible things are happening in this country:” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 5:30

Appalling translates the same noun rendered waste in 2.15. In this context it means “terrible” (Good News Translation).

The word translated horrible is found in the Old Testament only here and in 23.14; a noun of the same meaning (and almost of identical spelling) is used in 18.13.

In some languages it may be impossible to find two nouns of essentially the same meaning as appalling and horrible. We may then translate “very horrible” or “very terrible.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders “What has happened in this land is unbelievable and shocking.” It is also possible to say “Something frightful and horrible has happened in the land.”

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 .