34And I will bring to an end the sound of mirth and gladness, the voice of the bride and bridegroom in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, for the land shall become a waste.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.
Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 7:34:
Kupsabiny: “All happiness and joy of people who want to marry in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem shall come to an end, since the land shall become a desert.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I will- now -cause-to-stop the rejoicing and marrying in the streets of Jerusalem. The joyful voice of the newlyweds will- no longer -be-heard in the towns of Juda. For this land will-become lonely/desolate.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “There will be no one singing and laughing any more in the streets of Jerusalem; there will be no more joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides in Judah, because the land will be completely destroyed.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 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.
There is no distinction to be made between the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness; and for languages that prefer not to accumulate expressions of similar meaning, it is possible to translate with only one of these terms.
The voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride refers to the wedding feast, which was the most joyful social occasion among ancient Israelites: “the happy sounds of wedding feasts” (Good News Translation).
Though occurring here for the first time, the noun waste is used several more times in the book of Jeremiah. The picture is that of a town or city laid waste, with nothing remaining except a pile of rubble.
The verse can be restructured in one of the following ways:
• In the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem there will be no sounds of people laughing or being happy, no sounds of wedding celebrations, for I will have brought all those to an end, and the land will be like a desert.
• I will silence all voices of joy and happiness, all celebrations of weddings in the cities of Judah and in Jerusalem, for this land will be a wasteland.
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 .
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