complete verse (1 Kings 16:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 16:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “I will destroy you and the people of your house the same was calamity came upon the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “So I have decided to destroy you and your family, just as I did the family of Jeroboam, son of Nebat.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore I will-destroy you and your household, the same of what I did to the household of Jeroboam the child of Nebat.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So now I will get rid of you and your family. I will do to you just like I did to Jeroboam and his family.” (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 1 Kings 16:3

The Hebrew focusing particle translated behold is omitted by many modern versions, but it serves to draw attention to the fact that God planned to get rid of Baasha and his family. If the receptor language commonly uses such a device, it will be appropriate here.

I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house …: The prophet speaks to Baasha in the third person by saying Baasha and his house, and then switches to the second person with your house. This is unnatural style in English, so Good News Translation changes the third person to second person. As often in the Old Testament, the Hebrew noun house is used in the extended sense for “household.” The same word is also used of Jeroboam’s family later in this same verse.

The Hebrew verb translated utterly sweep away is the same as the one translated “utterly consume” and “burns up” in 1 Kgs 14.10. As indicated there, the spelling is the same for the Hebrew verbs that mean “burn” and “sweep away.” Some translations of verse 3 say “consume” (New Revised Standard Version) and others say “sweep away” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Osty-Trinquet). Either translation is acceptable. Compare also “destroy” (New Living Translation).

Jeroboam has already been identified as the son of Nebat (1 Kgs 11.26; 12.2, 15; 15.1), so Good News Translation omits the words the son of Nebat. But since this is the first reference to Jeroboam in a new section, translators may wish to include the full form of his name here. Nebat was Jeroboam’s father.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .