abomination

The Hebrew that is translated as “abomination” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “hated thing” and in Kwere as zitibusa which means “evil” but also something that causes horror or disgust and revolts people. (Source for both: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

in Ngambay it is nékɔb or “taboo.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also detestable in the sight of God and holy.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Jeremiah 7:10)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding the Lord.

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 7:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 7:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “And then some of you came to stand before me in this very house of mine saying, ‘We are good.’ So yes, it is so good of you to do things that I hate, isn’t it?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And then, you (plur.) come-near and stand in my presence in this temple, which I chose as place so-that I will- be-honored, and you (plur.) say, ‘We (incl.) (are) not harmed.’ And afterward, you (plur.) continue to do those detestable things.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “and then come here and stand in front of this temple, which is my temple, and say ‘Nothing bad will happen to us!’,
    while you continue to do all those abominable things.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

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 7:10

This house refers to the LORD’s temple, and the identification should be made clear for the reader. Some translators will need to say “this temple.”

Which is called by my name (see also verses 11, 14, 30) establishes the house as the LORD’s own personal property: “in my presence, in my own Temple” (Good News Translation). Translators can also say “in this temple which was made for me [or, for worshiping me].”

We are delivered may more naturally be expressed in English as either “We are safe!” (Good News Translation) or “Nothing can happen to us!” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

Abominations is first used in 2.7 (see there). Good News Translation translates “these things I hate,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is similar: “everything that I detest.”

Good News Translation has placed only to go on doing all these abominations at the beginning of the verse (“You do these things I hate, and then you come and stand…”). But a number of translations attempt to tie the phrase to We are delivered, with the idea of being safe to keep on doing these things God hates: “You say, ‘We are safe.’ So then you keep on doing those things which I hate.”

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 .