32until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey, that you may live and not die. Do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’
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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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, sukuidashite (救い出して) or “save/rescue” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”
The olive family has over four hundred species in the world. Many of them grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but it is the one in the Bible, the European Olive Olea europaea, that has become famous. It is likely that the olive was domesticated in Egypt or the eastern Mediterranean basin in the third millennium B.C. The botanist Newberry argued that Egypt was its original home. We know from the Bible that olives grew in the hills of Samaria and in the foothills. There is a wild variety, called Olea europaea sylvestris, that is smaller than the domestic one; it produces a smaller fruit with less oil. The Apostle Paul refers to this wild variety in Romans 11:17 and 11:24. Olives are easily propagated by cuttings and by grafting fruitful species into less fruitful ones. They grow best on hillsides where the rain drains off quickly. The fruit forms by August but does not ripen until December or January.
The olive is not a big tree, reaching up to perhaps 10 meters (33 feet), but with pruning it is usually kept to around 5 meters (17 feet) tall. The leaves are grayish green above, and whitish underneath. The bark of young trees is silvery gray but gets darker and rougher as the tree ages. The trunk also gets twisted and hollow and may reach over a meter in thickness. Olives grow for hundreds of years, and some in Israel have possibly reached two thousand years.
The fruit of the olive is about 2 centimeters (1 inch) long and a bit more than a centimeter (1/2 inch) thick. It has a hard stone inside and a soft skin that covers the oily flesh. Today a mature tree may yield 10-20 kilograms (22-44 pounds) of fruit, which, when processed, will yield 1.3-2.6 kilograms (3.6 pounds) of oil.
For the Jews the “big three” trees were the vine, the fig, and the olive. People ate olive fruits, but more importantly, they squeezed the oil from the fruits, and used it for cooking, for lamps, for rubbing on the body, for medicine, and in religion. Jacob poured olive oil on the stone where he saw a vision of angels, declaring it a holy place (Genesis 28:18). Moses, similarly, anointed the Tabernacle and its equipment with olive oil mixed with sweet-smelling resins (Exodus 40:9). Aaron and the priests who served in the Tabernacle were also anointed (Exodus 29:21).
Some types of wild olive grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but are not well-known. The so-called “African olive” produces a black, oil-bearing fruit much like an olive. It is common as a snack in northern Nigeria. The “Chinese olive” is also a species of Canarium and may be a possible cultural substitute, if it produces edible fruit and oil. The “Russian olive” grown in dry regions of the world is a member of the Elaeagnus family and not a true olive. A variety of olive (Olea cuspidate) is used for building in India and Nepal, but it is probably not possible to use it in the Bible except perhaps in a study Bible where you could say that the biblical olive was related to this tree.
Since most of the kinds of olive trees in the world do not have edible fruit, it may not be possible to substitute a local variety. If it is done, however, a footnote would be required saying that the Palestinian kind produced edible fruit and oil. If a variety of Canarium is eaten in your area, you could use the local name for it. Otherwise transliterate from a major language.
It will be recalled that the pronoun I refers to the Assyrian king since Revised Standard Version retains the quotation within a quotation. But if this is transformed into an indirect quotation, it will be necessary to say “the king,” “our ruler,” or something similar. Since there are three levels of quotation at the end of this verse, adjustments must be made in some languages. A model for verses 31-32 will be given at the end of the discussion on this verse.
Until I come and take you away …: Even though the Assyrian king promises to let the people of Judah return to their own homes that day, he has deportation in mind for them in the future. New Living Translation says “Then I will arrange to take you….”
A land like your own land …: What follows sounds like the promises of a clever politician. The people of Judah are assured that even in defeat they will be no worse off than under Hezekiah.
The expressions a land of grain and wine and a land of bread and vineyards are parallel in meaning. Bread comes from grain and vineyards are the source of wine. Good News Translation combines the two expressions and shows more clearly the relationship between the different parts. This might provide a good model for some other languages. The Hebrew noun rendered grain occurs frequently in the Old Testament. It has a wide range of meaning and may include beans and peas as well as crops like wheat and barley. The English word grain expresses the general, broad meaning of this Hebrew term. In languages that do not have such a general word, a land of grain may be rendered “a land with much food growing on it.” The Hebrew noun translated wine in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation refers to freshly produced wine. Revised English Bible and Osty-Trinquet say “new wine.” For vineyards see the comments on 1 Kgs 21.1.
Olive trees: See the comments on “beaten oil” at 1 Kgs 5.11. The Hebrew expression here is literally “olive trees of olive oil.” Some interpreters understand this to mean both olives and olive oil. Compare “olives, fine oil” (Revised English Bible) and “olives, oil” (New American Bible).
Honey: See the comments at 1 Kgs 14.3. Nearly all translations render the Hebrew term as honey here, but the precise nature of this substance is not certain. Some suggest that it may have been a sweet secretion of plant parasites. If it refers to honey, then it is wild honey and not honey made in man-made hives. In 1 Kgs 14.3 New American Bible says “preserves” and here it translates the same Hebrew noun as “fruit syrup.” The translation should be the same in both places.
That you may live, and not die: The meaning of the expression you may live is quite clear, but the addition of the words and not die may sound unnecessarily redundant in certain languages. If this is the case, translators do not need to repeat them. However, the positive and negative statements of the same idea have a cumulative effect and should be retained for emphasis if they sound natural together.
Do not listen to Hezekiah: The beginning of verse 31 begins with this same admonition. Here in verse 32 these words come from the Assyrian king, whereas in verse 31 they were spoken by the Assyrian official. Once again there is an attempt to divide the people of Judah from their king.
Contemporary English Version provides the following helpful model for the three levels of quotation in verses 31-32:
• Stop listening to Hezekiah! Pay attention to my king. Surrender to him. He will let you keep your own vineyards, fig trees, and cisterns for a while. Then he will come and take you away to a country just like yours, where you can plant vineyards, raise your own grain, and have plenty of olive oil and honey. Believe me, you won’t starve there.
Hezekiah claims the LORD will save you. But don’t be fooled by him.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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