abomination

The Hebrew that is translated as “abomination” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “hated thing” and in Kwere as zitibusa which means “evil” but also something that causes horror or disgust and revolts people. (Source for both: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

in Ngambay it is nékɔb or “taboo.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also detestable in the sight of God and holy.

complete verse (Ezekiel 7:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 7:20:

  • Kupsabiny: “They were proud of those things so that they made from them abominable idols that they worshipped. So, I will make those idols to become useless for them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They even boasted of their fancy jewelries, and they used them to make their detestable gods. Therefore I will-make their wealth as dirty things for them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They were proud of their beautiful jewelry, and they used it to make their detestable idols and disgusting statuesof their gods. So I will cause them to be disgusted with those things.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (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 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 7:20

This verse describes how the Israelites’ wealth caused them to sin.

Their beautiful ornament they used for vainglory means they boasted of the beautiful jewelry they made out of their silver and gold. New Century Version says “They were proud of their beautiful jewelry.” Instead of the plural pronoun Their, the Hebrew text has the singular pronoun “Its” (Revised Standard Version footnote). Although Hebrew uses a singular pronoun here, the context clearly shows that it refers to the people of Judah, for whom plural pronouns are used in the surrounding verses. Some early versions actually made the change to plural. It is not unusual for Hebrew to alternate between singular and plural when referring to the same people.

And they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it: Not only were they proud of their jewelry, but even worse, they used it to make their idols. Their abominable images refers to the statues of the false gods they worshiped. Their detestable things refers to the same idols (see the comments on 5.11). For these two phrases New International Version has “their detestable idols and vile images,” and New Century Version says “their idols and their evil statues.” Good News Translation combines them, saying “disgusting idols.” There is more detail on this idolatry in chapter 8. The pronoun it refers to the jewelry. This whole clause may be rendered “and they used their jewelry to make those idols that were so disgusting to me” or “and they made the disgusting idols that I hate so much out of their jewelry.”

Therefore I will make it an unclean thing to them: Because the people misused their silver and gold for the worship of their false gods, God promises to make it repulsive to them. They will view it as ritually impure. For an unclean thing, see the comments on the previous verse. Translators may render this clause as “Therefore I will make their silver and gold something repulsive to 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 .