Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 15:16:
Uma: “The Lord God said: ‘After that, I myself will return to visit the descendants of the Yahudi people that were ruled over by Daud long ago. I will love them and erect again the kingdom of Daud. From there, all the other people will also search for me. All the non-Yahudi people, whom I call to become my people/crowd, will certainly come to Me.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “‘After this I will come back, says God, and I will rebuild the house of Da’ud which had fallen. (The meaning of the house of Da’ud is his kingdom.) I will make-good what is broken-down and I will make it a house again.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “‘After this is finished, says the Lord, I will return there to you and I will again come down upon the descendants of the people whom David ruled over. I will pity them and I will give them again strength.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘The Lord says, I-will-return in a future day to build again the destroyed house of King David so that it will be thoroughly renovated,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “”The day will come when I will return,’ says God, ‘for I will again set up the kingdom of David, which today is like a hut which has been destroyed. Yes indeed, I will fix up all its breakages, for I really will set it up again.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
For the Old Testament quotes, see Amos 97:11 (from the Greek Septuagint).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Amos 9:11:
Kupsabiny: “God is saying, ‘The day is coming when I shall restore the house of David that has fallen. I shall build where it broke down so I return (it) to stay as before/in the old time.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “In that day I will restore the fallen dynasty of David, which is like a house fallen into ruins. I will repair its walls and restore it. I will rebuild it and make it as it was long ago.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘The day will-come that I will-build again the kingdom of David which (was) like a broken-down roofed-shelter. I will-repair it of its ruins, and I will-build it again like the previous-one,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
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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.
The LORD says. The Hebrew does not mention the speaker at the beginning of this passage but only in verse 12. However, since verse 11 starts a new section and verse 10 closes by quoting other speakers, it may be important to indicate the speaker here rather than waiting for the end of verse 12.
In that day/A day is coming. See 2.16. Here the meaning of that day changes from “the day when the LORD will punish” to “the day when the LORD/I will bless.”
I will raise up the booth (or: hut) of David that is fallen/when I will restore the kingdom of David, which is like a house fallen into ruins. “Hut,” of course, is a picture to which the kingdom is probably being compared. The point of similarity is almost certainly fallen. David’s kingdom is now destroyed, broken down, like an old broken down building. The Kingdom of David refers to the people of Israel at the highest point of their political and military power.
In English it is more natural to translate “hut” as house: “I will restore David’s fallen house” (New English Bible). Good News Translation has made the comparison clear in every way, which is what most translations need to do.
Kingdom of David may be difficult to translate meaningfully without destroying the emotive overtones in the Hebrew. It is, of course, possible to translate in a non-poetic way like “I will cause (you) the people of Israel to become great/powerful again like they/you were in the time of their/your King David. Now they/you are like a house that is in ruins (or: has been broken down/destroyed by war).” A more forceful translation might be “The/your great nation/kingdom of which David was king is now like a house in ruins, but I will build it/you up again.”
And repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old/I will repair its walls and restore it. I will rebuild it and make it as it was long ago. In many languages it would be more natural to say that walls are repaired rather than “I will repair the gaps in its walls” (The Translator’s Old Testament). In others, however, it is normal to say that “gaps” or “holes” are repaired and not the walls. This verse has a number of overlapping pictures of repair and restoration (repair, restore, rebuild, make it as it was), some of which may have to be combined in translation.
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 .
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