heard

The Hebrew in Exodus 3:9 that is translated as “I have indeed heard (the cry of my people)” or “(the cry of the people) has come to me” in some English translations is translated into Thai (Thai Common Language Version, 1985) as “take heart and put into” meaning “take a deep interest in.”

complete verse (Exodus 3:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 3:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those people really suffered in Egypt.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Now the loud cry of the Israelites has reached me. I have also seen the intolerable pain/suffering (given) to them by the Egyptians.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Yes, I have-heard the asking-for help of the Israelinhon, and I have-seen how they (are) oppressed by the Egiptohanon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “Yo, I heard the Israel people’s crying indeed, and I saw the Isip people doing badly to them.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “Look!! Now, weeping which my people are weeping, it approached here to me, and evil things which Egyptians do to them, I saw it.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “Truly I have now heard my Israeli people crying. I have seen how the Egyptians oppress them.” (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 Exod 3:9

And now, behold, simply emphasizes what follows, so the meaning is “I have indeed heard the cry of my people” (Good News Translation). The cry is the same word used in verse 7. The people of Israel may be understood as “my people” in contrast with the six other groups listed in verse 8. Has come to me is a bit stronger than “I have heard” in verse 7, suggesting an internal response to what has been heard. The English words “hearken” (archaic), “heed,” or “take notice of” are probably closer to the meaning. Some languages will have figurative expressions; for example, “take heart and put into” (Thai Common Language Version), meaning “take a deep interest in.”

I have seen the oppression is similar to verse 7, with the emphasis expressed differently. Oppression focuses more on the act of the oppressors, while “affliction” (verse 7) focuses on the misery of the oppressed. This distinction is made even clearer with the phrase with which the Egyptians oppress them. This is good Hebrew but unnatural English, so it is better expressed as “I see how the Egyptians are oppressing them” (Good News Translation) or “I have seen the brutality of the Egyptians towards them” (New English Bible). Another way to express this is “I have seen how cruelly the Egyptians are treating them.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .