complete verse (Joel 3:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joel 3:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “Make your hoes/plows to become swords,
    make your sickles become spears.
    Let (the/a) weakling say
    ‘I, too, am strong/fierce.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Hammer your ploughshares into swords
    and make spears from your sickles.
    Let the weak say,
    "I am strong!"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (plur.)] make the tip of your (plur.) plows into swords and [you (plur.)] make your (plur.) thing-for-cutting/mowing into spears. Even the ones-who-are-weak must fight.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Make-into swords your plows and (into) spears your sickles. Even the weak, it-is-necessary that he join-in-warring.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Take your plows and make swords from them,
    and take your pruning knives and make spears from them.
    Even the weak people must also be like strong soldiers.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

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 Joel 3:10

The commands here to the nations to change instruments of farming into instruments of war are the reverse of the commands in Isa 2.4 and Micah 4.3.

Beat your plowshares into swords: Plowshares were used for plowing ground. They were flat triangular blades made of metal, which were connected to handles. Some were wooden bars covered with cylindrical, pointed metal sleeves, so Good News Translation says “points of … plows”. A blacksmith would be able to reshape them into swords by heating them until red-hot, and then beating them or striking them with a hammer into the right shape. Swords are weapons that are long, heavy knives made of metal. For this line New Jerusalem Bible has “Hammer your ploughshares into swords.” In cultures not familiar with plows, translators may have to use a more generic way of expressing the meaning; for example, “Make swords out of your iron tools for preparing the land for planting [or, sowing].”

And your pruning hooks into spears: The verb Beat in the first line is implied here. Pruning hooks are used to trim vines or fruit trees by cutting off unwanted branches. Good News Translation says “pruning knives,” which may be a helpful model for other languages. They are to be changed into spears, which are usually wooden rods with iron points. Spears are weapons that are either thrown or pushed against an enemy. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is accurate in rendering the term as “spear points” in this context.

Let the weak say, “I am a warrior”: The weak among the nations are to identify themselves as soldiers. The Hebrew word for warrior is the same one rendered “mighty men” in verse 9. Some translators may find it better to translate this term according to its significance here; for example, for the whole line Good News Translation says “Even the weak must fight,” Bible en français courant has “Even the most apprehensive should persuade themselves that they are heroes,” New Jerusalem Bible uses “let the weakling say, ‘I am tough!’ ” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “Even the weakest one should declare: I fight like a lion!”

Quoted with permission from de Blois, Kees & Dorn, Louis. A Handbook on Joel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joel 3:10

3:10a Beat your plowshares into swords

Hammer/Pound (plur.) your plowshares into swords
-or-
Form/Forge (plur.) swords from your iron/metal plows.
-or-
Take your (plur.) iron digging tools and make fighting knives ⌊from them⌋ .

3:10b and your pruning hooks into spears.

and ⌊hammer/pound (plur.) ⌋ your pruning knives into spears.
-or-

⌊Form/Forge (plur.) ⌋ spears from your gardening knives.
-or-

⌊Take (plur.) ⌋ your trimming/vine knives and make (plur.) them into lances.

3:10c Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’

You weak ones, each of you must say, ‘I am a great/mighty warrior!’
-or-
You weakling/coward, tell yourself that you are strong ⌊and able to fight⌋ !
-or-
Even the feeble/skinny men must think themselves mighty ⌊in battle⌋ .

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.