complete verse (Zephaniah 2:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Zephaniah 2:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “God is again saying, ‘You people of Cush will be destroyed by my sword.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “O living in Cushi, you too also
    shall be killed by my sword.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The LORD said, ‘You (plur.) also (who) come-from-Etiophia, I will-cause- you (plur.) -to-be-killed in battle.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

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”.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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).

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

Translation commentary on Zephaniah 2:12

This verse deals with a distant nation to the south, called in Hebrew “Cushites” (New American Bible, New English Bible, New International Version). The area occupied by these people was the Upper Nile, which included most of the country now called Sudan as well as part of modern Ethiopia. Good News Translation therefore translates “the people of Sudan” rather than the more traditional Ethiopians (King James Version, Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible). In this verse “Cushites” may stand for Egyptians, since, during the years of the twenty-fifth dynasty (715–663 B.C.), the throne of Egypt had been occupied by Cushites. Their power had ended over thirty years before the time of this prophecy, but it is possible, as mentioned in the comments on 1.1, that Zephaniah himself had some ancestral link with the people of Cush, and perhaps it was this that led him to use that name here, even if he intended to refer to Egypt. See also comments on Nahum 3.9.

Another possibility is that “Cushites” represent a typical large and remote nation on the border of the known world. If this is the correct meaning, the effect is to emphasize the great power of the LORD, which reaches even to the most distant places.

These Ethiopians, or “people of Sudan,” will also undergo the punishment of the LORD. They will be slain by my sword. Mention of the particular weapon sounds very old-fashioned in English, and Good News Translation therefore uses a more general term, “put … to death.” However, this refers to death in warfare, so an alternative translation model is “The LORD will cause enemy soldiers to kill the people of Sudan.” Translators should use whatever expression is natural in their own language.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Zephaniah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .