Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Micah 5:12:
Kupsabiny: “I shall finish your charms/witchcraft so that you shall never again do spells/witchcraft.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “I will destroy all your sorcery and no longer will you be involved in such things.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I will-destroy your (plur.) amulets and your (sing.) sorcerers/ones-who-do-witchcraft will-be-no-more.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “I will get rid of all those among you who practice magic and the fortune-tellers/those who say that they can predict what will happen in the future.” (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.
In verse 12 we meet the first direct mention of false religion. The Lord promises to destroy the magic charms you use, and leave you without any fortunetellers. The practice of magic and fortunetelling was condemned clearly in the Law (Lev 19.26; Deut 18.9-14) but was nevertheless carried on in Israel, as is indicated in 1 Sam 28; 2 Kgs 21.6. The aim of magic is to get power over other people or things, and the aim of fortunetelling is to obtain information about the future. The terms used here are general ones, and as such activities are still widespread, many translators will easily find suitable terms in their own languages. Magic charms refers to various kinds of things that a person might wear or might use in some other way. They were things believed to have some sort of magic power. If there is no word for fortunetellers, these are “people who tell others what is going to happen to them in the future.”
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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