Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 2:2:
Kupsabiny: “But as (he) was speaking, the Spirit came to me and raised me up to stand and then I heard (it) speak to me.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “As he spoke to me I was-empowered by the Spirit and caused-to-stand. I listened to the voice which was-speaking to me.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “While he spoke to me, God’s Spirit entered me and enabled me to stand up. Then I heard him speak to me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
And when he spoke to me, that is, at the same time as God (or the angel) spoke the words in verse 1 to Ezekiel, the Spirit entered into me. Revised Standard Version capitalizes Spirit, which implies the Holy Spirit, and Good News Translation is similar with “God’s spirit.” The Hebrew is not so explicit, which is literally “a spirit” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). This “spirit” probably refers to a divine impulse or the power of God (see the comments on 1.12). A footnote in Traduction œcuménique de la Bible refers to it as “prophetic charisma,” that is, divinely given power to perform a particular task, in this case to be a prophet. It is best not to make this “spirit” appear to be the Holy Spirit, but if translators follow the Hebrew closely, they must be careful not to make it appear as if it were an evil or ancestral spirit that entered Ezekiel at that time. “God’s power” is the rendering some translators have used.
And set me upon my feet means God’s power caused Ezekiel to stand up.
And I heard him speaking to me: As in the previous verse, the speaker is probably God, but it could be an angel. However, it is clear that it is not the “spirit” that has just entered Ezekiel. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates this clause as “and I heard what was being spoken to me.” This rendering indicates that when the spirit raised Ezekiel to his feet, he was in a position to hear what was being said to him. Other possible models are “Then I heard the voice speaking” and “Then I heard the one speaking say to me.”
Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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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 third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used.
In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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