fortress

The Hebrew that is translated in English as “fortress” (or: “stronghold”) is translated in Khoekhoe with ǁkhui-omga or “strong house.” (Source: project-specific notes in Paratext)

See also stronghold.

complete verse (Amos 1:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Amos 1:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “So, I will send fire to the city of Teman
    to destroy the city of Bozrah that is protected.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I will put fire on the city of Teman
    and it will destroy the fortresses of Bozra completely.’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore I will-burn Teman and the strong/firm portions of Bozra.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I will cause a fire to burn Teman district in Edom
    and completely burn the fortresses of Bozrah, the biggest city in Edom.’” (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 Amos 1:12

(4) So I will send fire upon the city of Teman and burn down the fortresses of Bozrah. See Amos 1.4. Good News Translation indicates that Teman is a city, but Teman and Bozrah could be taken as names of towns, regions, or both, so it is better not to be specific, if possible. As the fortresses of Bozrah are not included in Teman, and as there is a certain distance between the towns or regions, the translation should not say that the fire sent on Teman will burn up the fortresses of Bozrah, as Revised Standard Version and other modern translations (except Good News Translation) do.

Quoted with permission from de Waard, Jan & Smalley, William A. A Handbook on Amos. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1979. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .