The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible as “friends of front,” i.e., the person standing opposite you in a battle. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
In North Alaskan Inupiatun it is translated with a term that implies that it’s not just someone who hates you, but one who wants to do you harm (Source: Robert Bascom), in Tarok as ukpa ìkum or “companion in war/fighting,” and in Ikwere as nye irno m or “person who hates me” (source for this and one above: Chuck and Karen Tessaro in this newsletter ).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Kings 21:14:
Kupsabiny: “I shall turn my back on those few who remain and leave them to their enemies. Everything they have shall be plundered from them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Having rejected the remnant of my people, I will put them in the hands of their enemies. The enemies will conquer them and plunder their land.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I will-forsake the remnant of my people and I will-hand- them -over to their enemies who will-plunder their properties.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “And I will abandon the people who remain alive, and I will allow their enemies to conquer them and steal everything valuable from their land.” (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.
I will cast off the remnant of my heritage: Other passages in 1–2 Kings suggest that the heritage or “inheritance” of the LORD is the people of Israel (1 Kgs 8.51, 53). Compare also Deut 32.9 and Psa 28.9. The word remnant refers to those people surviving after the majority of the group has been exterminated. So the expression the remnant of my heritage means simply “those of my people who remain.” Even their special status of being the people of God cannot change the situation. They too will be abandoned as God punishes Judah.
Give them into the hand of their enemies: Note that the pronoun them refers to the people of Judah and not to the northern kingdom of Israel. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente makes this explicit by stating “I will deliver the inhabitants of Judah to their enemies.”
As is so often the case, the Hebrew word for hand is a reference to the “power” of the enemies of Judah.
They shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; that is, the remaining people of Judah will be at the mercy of those who raid and plunder. Their land and everything that they have will be taken from them by the conquerors. The Hebrew words for prey and spoil are used together in a similar way in various other places, including Isa 42.22 and Jer 30.16.
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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