13Just as you have been a cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong.”
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “make to live,” which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”
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)
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 Zechariah 8:13:
Kupsabiny: “You people of Israel and those of Judah were like those who had been cursed among those countries that do not know God. But I will save you to become a blessed people. So, do not be afraid again, but be encouraged.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “You people of Judah and Israel. Until today, people of other countries used your name to curse people. But I will save you, and you will become a good blessing."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘People of Juda and Israel, other nations cause-you-to-be-bad/evil(meaning-to-speak-evil-of). But I will-save you (plur.) and you (plur.) will-be a blessing to them. So (you) (plur.) do-not be afraid instead you (plur.) be-strong/have-courage.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “You people of Judah and Israel, the people of other nations have cursed you. But I will rescue you, and you will be a blessing to the people of many nations. So do not be afraid; work hard to finish building the temple.’” (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.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
This verse contains the second comparison. The introductory words as and so are parallel with “before those days” and “but now” in verses 10-11. Compare also 7.13 and 8.14-15.
As you have been a byword of cursing among the nations: A byword means a proverb (Revised English Bible) or a standard example. The way God had allowed the Temple to be destroyed and the people of Israel and Judah taken into exile had been used by other nations as an example of what it means to be under God’s curse. Compare Jer 24.9; Jer 25.18. So the clause you have been a byword of cursing among the nations may be translated “In the past foreigners have cursed one another by saying, ‘May the same disasters fall on you that fell on Judah and Israel.’ ” (Good News Translation). Cursing is expressed in certain languages as “saying bad [or, evil] words,” or even “putting evil words on another person.”
O house of Judah and house of Israel: Zechariah addresses those who had returned to Judah as representative of both the northern and southern kingdoms. In many languages it will be helpful to do as Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente have done and move this vocative expression to the beginning of the verse (compare the comment on verse 9): “People of Judah and Israel….”
So will I save you and you shall be a blessing: The prophet promises that the good things that lie ahead will become a proverbial example of what happens when God blesses a nation. Save here must refer not to rescue from exile, as in verse 7, since this had already taken place, but to prosperity among those who had returned. The word blessing is probably a reference to the promise God gave to Abraham (Gen 12.2-3), and you shall be a blessing could be translated “So I will make you prosper.” Blessing here refers to “receiving good things.” You shall be a blessing is expressed in Good News Translation as “then those foreigners will say to one another, ‘May you receive the same blessings that came to Judah and Israel’ ” (see the parallel expression a byword of cursing above). This is very clear in English, but it is rather long, with “Judah and Israel” coming three times in the one verse. New English Bible conveys the ideas more briefly with “You … have been the very symbol of a curse to all the nations; and now … you shall become the symbol of a blessing.” In some languages this may be a more convenient translation model than Good News Translation. Translators will have to decide just how much information needs to be stated in their own languages.
Fear not is the conclusion to the section beginning with “Let your hands be strong” in verse 9. Compare Hag 2.5 and many other places. Good News Translation has “don’t be afraid” (also Contemporary English Version).
But let your hands be strong: The Hebrew contains no word for but, and it is in fact out of place here. As explained in the introduction to this section, let your hands be strong is best regarded as the beginning of a second unit parallel with the one beginning with the same words in verse 9, and should be translated in the same way here as in verse 9. See the notes there. Translators are advised to begin a new paragraph here, and continue it into the following verse, where the reason for fresh courage is stated; for example, “Take courage, because the LORD Almighty says….”
An alternative model for this verse is:
• People of Judah and Israel, in the past foreigners took you as an example of a people God had cursed. But now I will make you prosper. Then those foreigners will say to one another, “May you receive all the good things that came to the people of Judah and Israel.” So, then, you should not be afraid.
Take courage, because….
Or the second half of the verse may be kept parallel with the first half, so as to say:
• Then those foreigners will take you as an example of a people God has blessed. So don’t be afraid.
Take courage, for….
The final words (“Take courage” or something similar) should then begin a new paragraph extending to the end of verse 17.
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 .
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