The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.
Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Obadiah 1:12:
Kupsabiny: “It was not fitting/right for you to be happy on that day when your relatives received hardships in Judah. You should not have been happy when they were in trouble. And you should not have laughed at them when they were getting punishment.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “You should not gloat over your younger brother in times of adversity. You should not have been happy on the day the descendants of Judah perished. You should not have boasted in times of their misery.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Wish you (plur.) did- not -rejoice at the time of calamity of the people of Juda, your (plur.) blood-relatives. Wish you (plur.) did- not -rejoice at the time of their destruction. And wish you (plur.) did- not -boast at the time of their difficulty.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “You should not have gloated/been happy about the disaster that the Israelis were experiencing. You should not have been happy when their towns were ruined. You should not have made fun of them when they were suffering.” (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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
This verse, together with verses 13 and 14, consists of a series of negative commands. Some modern English versions such as Jerusalem Bible and New English Bible translate with a similar series of commands beginning “Do not….” This construction may be quite vivid in Hebrew, but in English it gives the impression that the actions concerned are still future. Since we understand that this section refers to past actions, actually carried out some years previously, it is clearer in English to translate by a series of statements. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have done this with repeated occurrences of You should not have…. Most translators will find it best to do something similar, though of course the exact form will depend on the resources of the individual languages. In some languages it will be simpler to give a series of statements beginning “It was not right that you….” In other languages it may be best to state first what the Edomites did, and then say that this was a bad thing to do. Thus the first sentence may become “Your brothers in Judah were in serious trouble, but you gloated about this. That was terrible thing to do.”
You should not have gloated over the misfortune of your brothers in Judah: the word gloated means rejoiced with bad motives or for wrong reasons. The repetition of brothers again underlines the treacherousness of Edomite behavior. The phrase translated in Judah actually occurs in the second sentence of the verse, but Good News Translation has brought it into the first for the sake of clarity, and this position will often be helpful in other languages.
You should not have been glad on the day of their ruin: in some languages the event their ruin will need to be restructured to include a subject, and translators may say “on the day their enemies ruined them,” or “… ruined their city.”
You should not have laughed at them in their distress, compare Lam 4.21; Ezek 35.15. The expression translated laughed in Good News Translation (“boasted” Revised Standard Version) is literally “made your mouth big.” There may be a similar idiom in other languages referring to mockery or boasting, and if so, it can well be used here.
The words translated misfortune, ruin, and distress represent three different Hebrew words. In languages that do not have a variety of synonymous terms like this, it can be fitting to use a single term repeatedly, especially when it is not good style to keep on saying “in the day.” This may help to catch something of the repetitive effect of the Hebrew without distorting the natural style of the vernacular. On the other hand, it is clear that the three parts of this verse are almost completely parallel, since gloated, been glad, and laughed are virtually synonyms here, and so are the different words for the trouble of the people of Judah. In some languages it may therefore be best just to state this idea once.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on the Book of Obadiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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