The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated into English as “chariot” is translated into Anuak as “canoe pulled by horse.” “Canoe” is the general term for “vehicle” (source: Loren Bliese). Similarly it is translated in Lokạạ as ukwaa wạ nyanyang ntuuli or “canoe that is driven by horses.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Other translations include:
Chichicapan Zapotec: “ox cart” (in Acts 8) (ox carts are common vehicles for travel) (source: Loren Bliese)
Chichimeca-Jonaz, it is translated as “little house with two feet pulled by two horses” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
HausaCommon Language Bible as keken-doki or “cart of donkey” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Micah 5:10:
Kupsabiny: “God is saying, ‘In the day that is coming, I shall kill your horses and destroy your chariots.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “This is what the LORD says- "On that day I will wipe out all the horses among you, and your chariots will be destroyed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The LORD said, ‘In future/coming days, I will-cause- your (plur.) horses -to-be-slaughtered and I will-cause- your (plur.) chariots -to-be-destroyed.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Yahweh says, ‘At that time, I will destroy you Israeli people’s horses that your soldiers use in war and your chariots.” (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.
Verses 10-15 form a single paragraph in which the prophet speaks about removing everything evil from the nation of Israel and stopping all activities related to idol worship. Verses 10-13 are similar to one another in form, and each begins with “and I will cut off.” This is a single word in Hebrew, a form of the verb karath, which occurred in verse 9 and is a keyword in this section. In Hebrew, the word does mean “cut” in the literal sense, but it is also used in extended and figurative ways. In many languages it will not be possible to use the same word for each of the occurrences of karath here. However, translators may be able to find some other word that they can use several times in this paragraph, even if it is not always used to translate karath. Good News Translation has done something like this with its repetition of the word destroy. The first time it occurs (verse 10) it translates a different Hebrew verb, but in the other three occurrences it translates karath. If some repetition of this kind can be used in other languages, it may help to convey some of the rhythm of the Hebrew and some of its emotional impact.
The whole paragraph is the direct word of the Lord and is placed in quotation marks in Good News Translation. The Lord is speaking to the people of Israel here, and some translators may need to make this clear so that readers will know who you and your refer to in this quotation. The you is singular in Hebrew, but it will probably need to be translated by a plural in many languages.
The opening expression “in that day” (Revised Standard Version) refers to an indefinite point in the future, as in 4.6, and is translated At that time in Good News Translation. In the present context it follows verses 7 and 8, which speak of the time of the exile, and it probably refers to the same period also. Historically it was indeed during the exile that the people of Israel finally overcame the temptation to worship idols. This practice, though repeatedly condemned, had never been completely removed during the period of the kings.
However, before mentioning false religion specifically, this passage first deals with reliance on human military strength. The Lord declares that he will take away your horses and destroy your chariots. The prophets often condemned Israel for relying on such things, because this frequently involved military alliances with foreign powers, and such alliances could mean that a certain amount of recognition would have to be given to foreign gods. See for instance Isa 2.7-8; 30.15-16; 31.1; Hos 14.3. As has been mentioned already, the word translated here as take away is literally “cut off,” which means to destroy completely. Good News Translation used a different word here in order to use the word destroy with chariots. Some translators may prefer to use a single verb with both horses and chariots and say “I will destroy all your horses and chariots.” Horses were used only for war in Israel at that time, but modern readers who do not know this may wonder why all the horses should be destroyed. It may be clearer to state explicitly that these are “war-horses” or “horses used for war.” The horses pulled the chariots and sometimes were also ridden by soldiers. Chariots are discussed in the comments on 1.13.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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