complete verse (Jeremiah 7:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 7:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “So/therefore, like what I did to that city of Shiloh, that is how/what I shall do to this house that my name is mentioned/called in/over, this house of prayer where you hope/rely on my name, this place that I gave to your forefathers and you (plur.).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore what I have done to Shilo I will- also -do it now in the temple that I chose as a place in-order to honor me, the temple that you (plur.) trust-in, that I gave to you (plur.) and to your (plur.) ancestors.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Therefore, just like I destroyed Shiloh, I will now destroy this temple
    that was built for people to worship me ,
    this temple that you trust in,
    that is in this place that I gave to you and your ancestors.” (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”.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 7:14

The house which is called by my name is repeated from verse 10. The reference is clearly to the temple (verse 4), and Good News Translation makes this clear (“this Temple of mine”), as does Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (“my temple”).

The place (see verse 3) may be understood as a further reference to the temple (Revised English Bible “… the house in which you put your trust, the place I gave to you…”), or it may be a reference to either the city or the land of Israel (Jerusalem Bible “… and the place that I have given to you…”).

Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch gives a very effective rendering of the entire verse: “Therefore I will now deal with my temple, in which you have placed your trust, in the same way that I did with Shiloh. I will raze to the ground that place where I wanted to be near you and your ancestors.” By translating do to as “raze to the ground,” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes an important step; that is, even if readers are not familiar with what the LORD “did to” Shiloh, they will understand immediately if a verb such as “destroy” or “destroy completely” is used.

As we stated above, verses 13-14 are one sentence, but should be structured by translators in whatever way is necessary for readers to understand the meaning easily. An example is:

• So now, here is what will happen. I spoke to you over and over, and called to you, but you would neither listen nor answer. So I will do to this temple what I did before in Shiloh, even though the temple is dedicated to me [or, made for me], and you trust in it. I will destroy what I gave to you and your ancestors.

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 .