save

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The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “make to live,” which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”

Other translations include:

  • San Blas Kuna: “help the heart”
  • Laka: “take by the hand” in the meaning of “rescue” or “deliver”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “lift out on behalf of”
  • Anuak: “have life because of”
  • Central Mazahua: “be healed in the heart”
  • Baoulé: “save one’s head”
  • Guerrero Amuzgo: “come out well”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “be helped as to his breath” (or “life”) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida),
  • Matumbi: “rescue (from danger)” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Noongar: barrang-ngandabat or “hold life” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • South Bolivian Quechua: “make to escape”
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl: “cause people to come out with the aid of the hand” (source for this and one above: Nida 1947, p. 222)
  • Bariai: “retrieve one back” (source: Bariai Back Translation)

See also salvation and save (Japanese honorifics).

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Jeremiah 8:20)

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 translation uses the exclusive pronoun. The Adamawa Fulfulde translation uses the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

complete verse (Jeremiah 8:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 8:20:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then I said,
    ‘The people are saying, ‘The harvest is finished,
    and the days of the dry season are over
    and we are not saved!’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The people complained, ‘Harvest-season and hot-season are over now, but we (incl.) are still not saved.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 8:20

In this verse the people speak again: “The people cry out” (Good News Translation); “The people lament” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). In Bible en français courant the speaker is Jeremiah, as he identifies as one of the people. Although the speaker is not identified in Hebrew, it is a good principle to follow Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch in identifying the speaker.

This verse probably represents a proverbial saying, describing persons whose last hopes have gone by. The grain harvest would have lasted from April to June, after which the summer (the time of harvest for grapes, figs, and olives) would have followed. Thus the proverb affirms that all chances for harvesting crops have gone by, leaving the people without hope. Most translations are rather slavish in the way that they render this verse, though Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is more creative: “The harvest is over, autumn has gone by, but it has not helped us.” A similar translation is “The harvest season is over, summer has ended, and still no one has saved us.” It should be noted that in Hebrew the pronoun we is emphatic. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible expresses this with “and for us, still no salvation.”

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 .