Jer 8:11 – TIPs

peace (inner peace)

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is usually translated into English as “peace,” when referring to one’s inner peace, is (back-) translated with a variety of idioms and phrases:

“a song in the body” (Baoulé — see also joy)
“heart coolness” (Eastern Maninkakan / Moronene) / “inner coolness” (Binumarien) (source for Moronene: David Andersen; Binumarien: Oates 1995, p. 249)
“coolness” (Pular / Kutu) (source for Kutu: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
“sit down in the heart” (South Bolivian Quechua) / “my heart sits down” (Northern Grebo)
“rest the heart” (Central Mazahua) / “rest within” (Lacandon) (source: Nida 1952, p. 40 and 128ff.) / “wait well in your heart” (Yatzachi Zapotec) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“quietness of heart” (Chol)
“kobe (= the abdominal region, including the heart) quiet” (Warao) (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. )
“have a quiet mind” (Ngäbere)
“heart will lie quietly” (Isthmus Zapotec)
“live quietly” (Central Tarahumara) (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
“quiet goodness” (Kekchí)
“goodness of life” (Uma) (source: Uma Back Translation)
“strength of heart” (Highland Puebla Nahuatl)
“leaning on the liver” (Kare)
“sweet insides” (Shilluk)
“evenness” (Toraja-Sa’dan)
“having your hearts feel oneness for one another” (Tzeltal)
“have one heart” (Miskito)
“well-arranged soul” (Mashco Piro)
“completeness” (Highland Puebla Nahuatl) (source for this and two above: Nida 1952, p. 128ff.)
“stomach flat in” (“one’s stomach sticks out when one is upset”) (Kimyal) (source: Young 2022)
“joy in heart” (Eastern Highland Otomi) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“have security in your heart” (Highland Totonac) (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
“smooth interior” (Bariai) (source: Bariai Back Translation)
tangnefedd — “an internal condition that makes external peace (heddwch) possible” (Welsh) (source: Rosa Hunt in Journal of European Baptist Studies 1/23 (2023), p. 1ff. ) (source for all non-attributed translations: Bratcher / Nida)

In American Sign Language it is signed with a compound sign consisting of “become” and “silent.” (Source: Yates 2011, p. 52)

“Peace” in American Sign Language (source )

complete verse (Jeremiah 8:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 8:11:

Kupsabiny: “They treat the wounds of my people
as if they were small wounds.
They say, ‘Peace, peace,’
even when there is no peace!” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “They do not cure seriously the wound of my people, even this is now serious. They said that everything is fine even though it is not.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “They act as though the sins of my people are not serious,
like wounds that do not need to be cleaned and bandaged.
They tell the people that everything will go well with them,
but that is not true; things will not go well with them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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.

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

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 8:10 - 8:12

These verses (except for the first two lines) are omitted from the Septuagint, and are almost the same as 6.12-15 (see there). Only the first two lines are slightly different.

I will give their wives to others can be translated similarly to Good News Translation, as in “I will give their wives to other men.” And [I will give] their fields to conquerors can be translated as “I will give their fields to new owners [or, to people who replace them].” Most commentators agree that the word Revised Standard Version has rendered conquerors is better understood as “those who displace,” not as victors in battle.

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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Verse: Jeremiah 8:11