Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 44:1:
Kupsabiny: “God is saying, ‘Listen, please, you house/descendants of my servant Jacob, you people of Israel that I have chosen.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “But Now, O my servant Jacob, Israel, the one whom I have chosen to listen, ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘But now, listen, O Israel my servant, the people whom I chose, the descendants of Jacob.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
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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.
In verses 1-8 the LORD addresses his people, the Israelites. Good News Translation makes this clear by moving the quote frame at the beginning of the next verse to this one, which other languages may find helpful.
But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen: Yahweh first tells his people to listen to what he will say. As in 43.1, But now marks the contrast between the encouraging words in this section and the critical words before it. For the parallel phrases Jacob my servant and Israel whom I have chosen, see the comments on 41.8.
Good News Translation places “Israel” before “Jacob” since it is the better-known name. It also expands the text here by referring to “the descendants of Jacob.” This kind of expansion brings more clarity, but it may not be necessary for most translations.
For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:
• “But listen now, Jacob, my servant,
Israel, my chosen one.
• “But now listen to me, my servant Jacob,
[you] Israel whom I have chosen.
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 .
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