Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“say”)

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 47:13

Thus says the Lord GOD: Once again this prophetic formula calls attention to the importance of a message from God. Lord renders the Hebrew word ʾadonai, and GOD renders “Yahweh” (YHWH in Hebrew).

These are the boundaries is better rendered “This will be the territory” (New Jerusalem Bible), because the Hebrew noun for boundaries (so also the Septuagint) is singular and it can also refer to the territory within a boundary. The Hebrew for this clause is literally “the valley of the boundary.” This reading makes little sense, so scholars assume there is a spelling mistake in the Hebrew text. The correct spelling is found at the beginning of verse 15, where the meaning is clearly “This is the boundary [or, boundaries].”

By which you shall divide the land for inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel: The Hebrew pronoun for you is plural, referring to the people of Israel or to their leaders. The land for inheritance refers to the land that they can divide up as their family possession. For this understanding of inheritance, see the comments on 46.16. They are to divide the land, not among individual families, but among the twelve tribes of Israel (see the comments on 37.19). In some languages it may be necessary to say that God will “give back” the land to the Israelites, or that they will “get back” the land, because the land belonged to them in the past.

A model for the first sentence of God’s words in this verse is:

• “This [or, What I will tell you now] will be the territory [or, land] that you will divide up among the twelve tribes of Israel [and give back to them] as their own tribal land.

Joseph shall have two portions: Although Jacob, the ancestor of the Israelites, had twelve sons from whom the nation of Israel descended, one of his sons, Levi, was the ancestor of the priests and other Levites and his tribe did not receive land in the way the other tribes did. However, Jacob’s son, Joseph, had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and each of these men became the ancestor of a separate tribe. In this way the number of Israelite tribes remained at twelve. The phrase two portions reminds the reader that Joseph’s family line divided into two tribes, so that his line made up two of the twelve tribes of Israel. Models for this clause are “You must count Joseph’s clan as two clans, and each must have a share of land” and “But the family of Joseph will have two shares [of land]” (New International Reader’s Version).

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 .