enemy / foe

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible as “friends of front,” i.e., the person standing opposite you in a battle. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

In North Alaskan Inupiatun it is translated with a term that implies that it’s not just someone who hates you, but one who wants to do you harm (Source: Robert Bascom), in Tarok as ukpa ìkum or “companion in war/fighting,” and in Ikwere as nye irno m or “person who hates me” (source for this and one above: Chuck and Karen Tessaro in this newsletter ).

In Cherokee it is either translated as “the one(s) who reprimand(s) you” or “the one(s) feared.” (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 47)

Translation commentary on Sirach 25:7

With nine thoughts I have gladdened my heart, and a tenth I shall tell with my tongue: This begins a long numerical proverb, which extends through verse 11. As with verses 1 and 2, a way of presenting these items visually as a kind of list will be helpful to the reader. This passage is a bit different from verses 1 and 2. There the writer said he would name three things, and then named three. That is the form used in Pro 30.7, 24. Here a different form is used. He says nine, and adds a tenth, and then lists the ten. This is the form used in Pro 30.15, 18, 21, 29. We understand this form to be a Hebrew idiom for calling attention to the last item in a numbered series. It is therefore unnecessary, and possibly distracting, to translate in such a way that the number nine is mentioned (compare what Good News Translation does in Pro 30.15, 18, 21, 29). Here Good News Translation‘s first clause, “I will tell you about ten kinds of people that I feel fortunate to know,” translates I have gladdened my heart, and a tenth I shall tell with my tongue. Good News Translation‘s second clause, “especially fortunate in the case of the tenth,” captures the effect of With nine thoughts … and a tenth. Many translators will be able to keep the figure of heart; for example, these two lines may be rendered “Ten kinds of people make my heart glad [or, warm my heart]; the tenth makes me especially happy.”

The translator who starts counting ahead may be surprised to find only nine items in the Greek text of verses 7b-11, and in most translations. There is a textual problem in verse 8 which will account for a tenth one.

A man rejoicing in his children is the first item. This does not refer to a person who is happy to have children. It refers to a person whose children have turned out well. He can take pride in them (so Good News Translation).

A man who lives to see the downfall of his foes: This second item is a person who has enemies and is fortunate to live long enough to see them fail. That person’s last years can be spent in peace. Contemporary English Version says “and those who live long enough to see their enemies fall.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Sirach. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.