Honorary "rare" construct denoting God (“say”)

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, ōse-rare-ru (仰せられる) or “say” is used.

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

Translation commentary on 2 Chronicles 33:7

And the image of the idol which he had made he set in the house of God: Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew text by using the definite article in the phrase the image. The definite article suggests the writer is referring to a specific or known image. The parallel passage in 2 Kgs 21.7 says that this was a statue of Asherah. On the other hand, Good News Translation says “an image,” which suggests that the writer is not referring to a specific image or to one that is known by the readers. The Hebrew noun translated image has the same root as a verb that means “to carve out” or “to cut.” The Hebrew noun translated idol refers to a sculptured image. The image of the idol may have been carved from wood or cast in metal. Some other translations are “a sculptured image” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) and “a carved image of an idol” (Moffatt; similarly An American Translation). It is not likely that Manasseh himself carved the image of the idol, so Good News Translation does not translate the words which he had made. But it may be more faithful to the text to say “which he had had made” (New Jerusalem Bible).

Of which God said to David and to Solomon his son …: The direct quotation that begins here continues to the end of the following verse. A model for expressing this quotation as indirect discourse is given at the end of the discussion on the next verse.

Which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel refers to the city of Jerusalem (see 2 Chr 6.5-6; 12.13). The Hebrew does not state the number of all the tribes of Israel. Good News Translation makes this implicit information explicit by adding the word “twelve.”

I will put my name for ever: As in other passages in the Old Testament (see 2Chr 33.4), this expression indicates the LORD’s determination to have his people always worship him in the Temple at Jerusalem.

The structure of this verse is complex and may be simplified by reordering the elements and breaking it down into separate sentences. International Children’s Bible provides the following model:

• He carved an idol and put it in the Temple of God. God had spoken to David and his son Solomon about the Temple. He had said, “I will be worshiped in this Temple and in Jerusalem forever. I have chosen Jerusalem from all the tribes of Israel.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .