wild animal

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated in English as “wild animal” or similar is translated in Newari as “animal that lives in the jungle.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)

shepherd

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “shepherd” in English is translated in Kouya as Bhlabhlɛɛ ‘yliyɔzʋnyɔ — ” tender of sheep.”

Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains:

“Then one day they tackled the thorny problem of ‘shepherd’. It was problematic because Kouyas don’t have herdsmen who stay with the sheep all the time. Sheep wander freely round the village and its outskirts, and often a young lad will be detailed to drive sheep to another feeding spot. So the usual Kouya expression meant a ‘driver of sheep’, which would miss the idea of a ‘nurturing’ shepherd. ‘A sheep nurturer’ was possible to say, but it was unnatural in most contexts. The group came up with Bhlabhlɛɛ ‘yliyɔzʋnyɔ which meant ‘a tender of sheep’, that is one who keeps an eye on the sheep to make sure they are all right. All, including the translators, agreed that this was a most satisfactory solution.”

Other translations include:

  • Chuj: “carer” (there was no single word for “shepherd”) (source: Ronald Ross)
  • Muna: “sheep guard” (dhagano dhumba) (there was no immediate lexical equivalent) (source: René van den Berg),
  • Mairasi: “people who took care of domesticated animals” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: “sheep worker” (kookendjeriyang-yakina) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Kwakum: “those-who-monitor-the-livestock” (source: Stacey Hare in this post )

See also I am the good shepherd, complete verse (Psalm 23:1), and sheep / lamb.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Shepherds in the Bible .

complete verse (Ezekiel 34:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 34:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “So they got scattered because they lacked a shepherd and then animals ate (them).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Because they do not have watchers, they scattered and were-devoured by the fierce animals.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So they were scattered, because you did not take care of them like a shepherd takes care of his sheep. And when they were scattered, it was as though wild animals attacked and killed them and ate their flesh.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 34:5

So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd: Sheep spread out and wander away when they have no shepherd to look after them. In the same way God scattered his people by sending them into exile in many different countries (see 11.16-17). Because there was no shepherd does not mean the people had no king or leader, but that the leaders did not fulfill their role properly. However, this clause may be rendered “because they didn’t have a shepherd to take care of them.” Translators may need to restructure the first half of this verse into two sentences as follows: “They didn’t have a shepherd to take care of them. Therefore they were scattered.”

And they became food for all the wild beasts: When sheep wander away from the flock, they become “easy prey” (New Living Translation) for wild animals. Good News Translation has a helpful model here, saying “and wild animals killed and ate them.”

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 .