complete verse (Isaiah 1:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 1:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “You were like clean silver,
    but now your are like mud.
    You were like sweet wine
    but now you are like water.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “O People of Jerusalem,
    your silver has become useless,
    Your wine has been
    mixed with water.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Jerusalem, in time-past you (sing.) were precious/[lit. of-great-price] like silver, but now has no value. In time-past you (sing.) were like pure wine, but now mixed now with water.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

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 Isaiah 1:22

This verse is an illustration of how the people of Jerusalem have changed drastically. Whereas in verse 21 the change was expressed in legal and ethical terms, here the change is presented poetically through figures of speech.

Your silver has become dross: The pronoun Your is feminine singular in Hebrew and refers to the city of Jerusalem. The city, of course, is a personification of all the people who live in it. The change from third person feminine singular pronouns in verse 21 (talking about Jerusalem) to second person feminine singular pronouns here (now addressing Jerusalem) is a Hebrew poetic device that can be confusing in another language. Good News Translation deals with this stylistic challenge by beginning with a vocative: “Jerusalem, you….” Other languages may find this helpful.

Silver is a valuable metal that is white and shiny. The Israelites used it for ornaments and tools; later on they used it especially for coins as money (see Gen 20.16; Lev 5.15; Neh 5.15). Where silver is unknown, some translators use the expression “white metal/iron” to refer to it. The phrase Your silver is a metaphor. It does not refer to the money belonging to the people but to the people themselves and their earlier value. Good News Translation captures the sense well with a simile by saying “you were once like silver.” What was silver has become dross. Dross is the waste product of smelting metal ore. It is regarded as useless and so is thrown away. If no precise term exists in a language to refer to dross, this line may be rendered “Your silver has become spoiled [or, useless/rotten]” or “Jerusalem, you were once like silver, but now you are worthless” (Good News Translation).

Your wine mixed with water: A second illustration of the change is wine that has been watered down. Wine is another figure for something of value; it, too, stands for what the people once were. Adding water to wine cheapens the wine and destroys its taste. Translators have to decide on one expression for wine since it is quite common in the Bible. Wine is a fermented drink made of grapes. It is an alcoholic drink, stronger than beer, but not as strong as a distilled drink like gin or what some call “liquor.” The words for “palm wine,” “rice wine,” and similar drinks cannot be used in most cases since they refer to drinks that are quite different from the wine of the Bible. If no word is available, the translator may have to coin one (for example, vinu) and explain it in the glossary.

Since both illustrations in this verse are metaphors, translators may use similes to make the sense clearer (so Good News Translation). Another possible model is Bible en français courant: “Jerusalem, you make one think of degenerated silver, of a great wine diluted with water.” Other alternative models are:

• Your were once silver, now you are rubbish;
you were once good wine, now you have been mixed with water.

• You were like silver, now you are just useless;
you were like good wine, now like tasteless [or, watery] wine.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .