cup

The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin that is translated as “cup” in English is translated in Sar with “calabash” (see here ) (source: Ngarbolnan Riminan in Le Sycomore 2000, p. 20ff. ) and in Bariai with “coconut shell” (source: Bariai Back Translation)

complete verse (Ezekiel 23:31)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 23:31:

  • Kupsabiny: “Because you followed the customs/habits/ways of your sister, you shall meet with the pain/punishment that she got.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You have-followed what your sibling has-done, therefore I will- also -punish you like I have-punished her.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You have behaved likethe people of Samaria, who are like your older sister. So I will cause you to be punished like they were punished.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 Ezekiel 23:31

You have gone the way of your sister means Oholibah did the same sinful things as her sister Oholah did. Most cultures are likely to have their own idiomatic way of expressing this idea; for example, Good News Translation says “You followed in your sister’s footsteps.”

Therefore I will give her cup into your hand: Because Oholibah sinned in the same way as her sister, she will get the same punishment. In the Old Testament cup is often used as an image of judgment. The contents stand for God’s punishment. Often it is necessary in translation to make explicit this picture of judgment in some way; for example, Good News Translation says “cup of punishment,” and Contemporary English Version has “cup filled with my anger.” One way to render this whole clause is “so I will give you the same cup of punishment I gave her.” It is also acceptable to abandon the picture of the cup; for example, New Living Translation (1996) has “I will punish you with the same terrors that destroyed her.” This imagery may also be dropped in the next three verses (see the model for verses 32-34 at the end of the discussion on verse 34).

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 .