complete verse (Ezekiel 27:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 27:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “You did trade with Tarshish. You exchanged your wealth that was big, silver, metals/iron, tin and all kinds of metal.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘ ‘Tarshish made-business with you for your wealth is much. What they paid for your merchandise were silver, iron, can, and lead.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Because of the many things that you had to trade, men from Tarshish in Spain sent merchants who brought silver, iron, tin, and lead to trade for things that you had.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

2nd person pronoun with low register (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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 27:12

Tarshish trafficked with you because of your great wealth of every kind: Tarshish was probably a trading colony on the west coast of Spain (compare Good News Translation “Spain”). It was nearly 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) west of Tyre, and people thought of it almost as the end of the world (compare Jonah 1.3). To identify Tarshish translators may say “city of Tarshish.” For the Hebrew verb rendered trafficked and the phrase because of your great wealth of every kind, see the introductory comments on this subunit.

Silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares: Tarshish was an area rich in metals. In cultures where silver, iron, tin, and lead are unknown, it is appropriate to use a general expression, such as “precious/valuable metals” (see 22.18, where these four metals are mentioned). It is not appropriate to use a term for money here (compare the comments on 7.19). For the Hebrew word rendered wares, see the introductory comments on this subunit.

Models for this verse are:

• “The people of Tarshish did business with you because you were so rich. In exchange for the things you had to sell, they gave you valuable metals.

• “People in Spain were your trading partners because you were so rich. They imported your products and exported silver, iron, tin and lead to you.

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 .