6My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.
“Sheep are known throughout most of the world, even though, as in Central Africa, they are a far cry from the fleecy wool-producing animals of colder climates. Where such animals are known, even by seemingly strange names, e.g. ‘cotton deer’ (Yucateco) or ‘woolly goat’ (Inupiaq), such names should be used. In some instances, one may wish to borrow a name and use a classifier, e.g. ‘an animal called sheep’. In still other instances translators have used ‘animal which produces wool’, for though people are not acquainted with the animals they are familiar with wool.” (Source: Bratcher / Nida)
In Dëne Súline, it is usually translated as “an evil little caribou.” To avoid the negative connotation, a loan word from the neighboring South Slavey was used. (Source: NCEM, p. 70)
Note that the often-alleged Inuktitut translation of “sheep” with “seal” is an urban myth (source Nida 1947, p. 136).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 34:6:
Kupsabiny: “My sheep wandered around on the hills and ridges. They got scattered in the whole land/world without anyone to look for them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “My sheep went-astray through the mountains and through the hills. They were-scattered over the entire earth/world, and no one ever looked for them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “My people wandered like sheep all over the high hills and mountains. They were scattered all over the earth, and no one searched for them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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.
My sheep were scattered repeats the first clause of the previous verse (see the comments there). This repetition emphasizes the sad picture of God’s sheep (this is, his people) not being all together, but scattered everywhere. The verb were scattered is actually at the end of the previous verse in Hebrew (so King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible).
They wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill: Because the sheep/people were not together, they wandered all over the place alone and in danger. Mountains and hills are places of particular danger for sheep, not only because there is the danger of falling, but also because wild animals find shelter in those places.
My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth: Once again the idea of the scattered sheep is repeated for emphasis. Over all the face of the earth stresses how far and wide they were scattered. New International Reader’s Version keeps the exaggeration here by saying “over the whole earth.”
With none to search or seek for them: Since the shepherds were not doing their job properly, no one was concerned enough to go and look for the sheep that had wandered away. The Hebrew verbs rendered search and seek are synonyms. They are used together here for emphasis. Contemporary English Version combines them by rendering this clause as “without anyone even bothering to look for them.”
Verses 5-6 may be combined and restructured into a more logical order as follows:
• The people were like sheep that didn’t have leaders to look after them properly and they wandered off in all directions throughout the land. No one went to look for them or tried to find them. They walked about over all the hills and mountains. Then it was easy for all the wild animals to catch them and eat 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 .
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