gentiles / nations

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).

Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).

In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also nations.

Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jerusalem .

complete verse (Zechariah 12:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Zechariah 12:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “All the communities in the world will fight against that city. But I shall on that day make Jerusalem become a stone that is heavy for those communities. And if any community tries to carry/lift that stone, (they) will only overload themselves.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “On that day all the nations of the earth will gather to fight against Jerusalem. I will make Jerusalem a stone for all nations to lift. Whoever will lift it will injure himself."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “On that day, I will-make Jerusalem like a heavy rock, and whatever nation that will-carry-it/lift-it-up will-experience-pain [intensifier]. All the nations of the earth will-gather to attack Jerusalem.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “At that time, the armies of all the nations will gather to attack Jerusalem, but I will cause the leaders of Judah to be like a very heavy rock, and all who try to lift it will be badly injured.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Zechariah 12:3

On that day: This phrase occurs in English versions frequently in chapters 12–14. Unfortunately the English versions, with the exception of very literal ones like Revised Version and New American Standard Bible, obscure the fact that the Hebrew is not the same in all occurrences. There are in fact two formulas here, a longer expression and a shorter one. The longer expression is rendered in Revised Version “And it shall come to pass in that day” (12.3, 9; 13.2, 4; 14.6, 8, 13), and the shorter one “In that day” (12.4, 6, 8, 11; 13.1; 14.20). These formulas are clearly markers that open discourse units, and as often happens, the longer formula indicates a higher level of unit than the shorter one. Translators may not find it desirable to maintain a difference in their translation between the longer and shorter formulas—it does indeed sound quite forced and artificial in English. But they should at least reflect the information carried by these formulas in the way they choose their paragraph breaks. On the basis of the discourse markers in chapter 12, new paragraphs should begin at verse 3 and verse 9. The shorter formulas in verses 4, 6, 8, 11, and 13.1 may be said to begin new subparagraphs, but these will probably not be shown in the layout of the printed text.

In terms of meaning, both the formulas translated On that day carry overtones of reference to the end times when God will intervene finally and decisively in human affairs. It is unlikely that there will be phrases with such overtones already in use in many languages. Most translators will have to use an ordinary expression (as English does) and let readers gradually come to understand the overtones from the contexts in which the phrase occurs.

I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples: At this point the picture changes from a cup to a stone. The language of this clause is not difficult, but it is harder to decide on the meaning of the picture. Some scholars follow Jerome in taking the stone to be a large one as used in lifting contests. But Jerome is describing a custom known in his own day (around 400 A.D.), and there is no evidence that it was known 800 years earlier, so this explanation seems rather unlikely. Other scholars (Chary, Meyers & Meyers) compare this verse with Isa 28.16, and go on to see a reference to the Temple in Jerusalem. Translators do not have to make a decision, but it may be helpful to them to be aware of the suggestions that others have made. As in verse 2, Good News Translation uses a simile, “I will make Jerusalem like a heavy stone,” and some translators may choose to follow this model. All the peoples probably refers to the same groups as in verse 2.

All who lift it shall grievously hurt themselves: In some languages the term chosen to translate lift may depend on the manner of the lifting. The only clue to this lies in the Hebrew phrase translated grievously hurt. This is a construction like those in 11.17, where the same verb is repeated in two different forms to add emphasis. In English the emphasis is conveyed by the adverb grievously. The root itself is found elsewhere only in Lev 21.5, where it refers to cutting the flesh as a sign of mourning. This suggests that in the present case people would hurt themselves by cutting and bruising while trying to lift the stone by hand. The suggestions of muscle strain or hernia do not seem convincing. The point of the whole picture is that those who set themselves against the LORD’s people will end up damaging their own interests. In most languages it should not be difficult to keep the picture of lifting a heavy stone. An alternative model is: “Anyone who lifts it will be badly hurt [or, will hurt themselves]” or “The stone will badly hurt anyone who lifts it.”

All the nations of the earth will come together against it: The phrase all the nations may have a wider meaning than all the peoples in the previous sentence. If so, it would probably refer to the larger and more distant nations, rather than to the smaller and more closely related peoples in and around the Holy Land. But this contrast is not certain, and if necessary, translators may render the two phrases in the same way.

Will come together against it refers to a hostile gathering against Jerusalem. Good News Translation makes this clear with “will join forces to attack her.” Despite the damage to themselves mentioned in the pictures of the cup and the heavy stone, pictures that they were presumably unaware of, the foreign nations were determined to attack Jerusalem. This final sentence may be also rendered as “The soldiers of all the nations of the world will join together to attack Jerusalem.”

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .