“Navajo (Dinė) distinguishes between a man’s son or daughter and a woman’s son or daughter by the use of different terms for each. So the gender of Zion had to be determined. The problem was settled when a friend called to our attention a number of verses in the Old Testament where Zion is referred to as “she” or “her”, e.g. Ps. 87:5, 48:12, Is. 4:5, 66:8. The term for a woman’s daughter is biché’é, so the “daughter of Zion” became Záiyon biché’é ‘Zion her-daughter’.” (Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. .)
In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as Miss Tsiyyon (or: Zion).
The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that are translated as “wine” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “grape juice pressed long ago (= fermented)” or “strong water” (source: Daud Soesilo). In Guhu-Samane it is also translated as “strong water” (source: Ernest L. Richert in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. ), in Noongar as “liquor” (verbatim: “strong water”) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), in Hausa as ruwan inabi or “water of grapes” (with no indication whether it’s alcoholic or not — source: Mark A. Gaddis), in sar as kasə nduú or “grape drink” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin), or in Papantla Totonac and Coyutla Totonac as “a drink like Pulque” (for “Pulque,” see here ) (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. ).
In Swahili, Bible translations try to avoid local words for alcoholic drinks, because “drinking of any alcohol at all was one of the sins most denounced by early missionaries. Hence translators are uncomfortable by the occurrences of wine in the Bible. Some of the established churches which use wine prefer to see church wine as holy, and would not refer to it by the local names used for alcoholic drinks. Instead church wine is often referred to by terms borrowed from other languages, divai (from German, der Wein) or vini/mvinyo (from ltalian/Latin vino/vinum). Several translations done by Protestants have adapted the Swahili divai for ‘wine,’ while those done by Catholics use vini or mvinyo.” (Source: Rachel Konyoro in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 221ff. )
The Swahili divai was in turn borrowed by Sabaot and was turned into tifaayiik and is used as such in the Bible. Kupsabiny, on the other hand, borrowed mvinyo from Swahili and turned it into Finyonik. (Source: Iver Larsen)
In Nyamwezi, two terms are used. Malwa ga muzabibu is a kind of alcohol that people specifically use to get drunk (such as in Genesis 9:21) and ki’neneko is used for a wine made from grapes (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext).
In some Hindi translations (such as the Common Language version, publ. 2015 ), one term (dākharasa दाखरस — grape juice) is used when that particular drink is in the focus (such as in John 2) and another term (madirā मदिरा — “alcohol” or “liquor”) when drunkenness is in the focus (such as in Eph. 5:18).
In Mandarin Chinese, the generic term jiǔ (酒) or “alcohol(ic drink)” is typically used. Exceptions are Leviticus 10:9, Numbers 6:3, Deuteronomy 29:6, Judges 13:4 et al., 1 Samuel 1:15, and Luke 1:15 where a differentiation between weak and strong alcohol is needed. The Mandarin Chinese Union Version (2010) translates that as qīngjiǔ lièjiǔ (清酒烈酒) and dànjiǔ lièjiǔ (淡酒烈酒), both in the form of a Chinese proverb and meaning “light alcohol and strong drink.” (Source: Zetzsche)
Click or tap here to see a short video clip about wine in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 52:2:
Kupsabiny: “Recover from the rubbish oh, Jerusalem you who were taken captive. Break those chains of slavery at the neck oh, you city of Zion that was tied.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Shake off your dust! Get up O Jerusalem, and sit on the throne, O captive people of Jerusalem, be set free [from] what has bound your neck.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “You (sing.) no-longer mourn like a sad man who sits on the ground, but-rather you (sing.) rise-up and rule again. And you (plur.) residents of Jerusalem, set- yourselves -free from captivity.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
This verse continues the theme of verse 1, calling on God’s people to prepare to leave Babylonia.
Shake yourself from the dust, arise calls first on the exiles to get up from the dust, which is a metaphor for their humiliation and captivity (see 47.1, “sit in the dust” portrays Babylonia’s humiliation). It is more likely for the people to arise before they Shake … off the dust, so the order of these two imperatives may be reversed (see the examples below). Good News Translation keeps the original order, but in a logical way, by saying “Shake yourself free … Rise from the dust.”
O captive Jerusalem: Revised Standard Version (also New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) emends the Hebrew text of Masoretic Text, which is literally “sit, Jerusalem.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends Masoretic Text since it has the support of most early manuscripts. “Sit” implies “sit on your throne” (Good News Translation; similarly New International Version, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), a command addressed to the exiles. Translators may follow either reading here.
Loose the bonds from your neck refers to a custom in which captive people were tied together at their necks with ropes or chains, then led away by their captors (compare 10.27). Instead of the command loose the bonds, which urges the exiles to free themselves from captivity, the Hebrew text of Masoretic Text says “the bonds have been loosed,” which declares the exiles are free. Most versions have a command here even though there is strong textual support for the reading in Masoretic Text. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers Masoretic Text, which New Jerusalem Bible and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch follow. Translators may follow either reading. The Hebrew noun for bonds comes from a root meaning “to tie up,” but whether it refers to “chains” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible) or “ropes” (Revised English Bible) is uncertain. Perhaps ropes were the more common means of tying up captives, but translators may use either “ropes” or “chains” if a general term meaning bonds is not available. For this whole line New Jerusalem Bible has “The chains have fallen from your neck.”
O captive daughter of Zion is parallel to the second line, pointing again to the exiled people of Jerusalem. The Hebrew adjective rendered captive refers to them as prisoners. For daughter of Zion, see the comments on 1.8.
Translation examples for this verse are:
• Arise and shake off the dust,
sit [on the throne], O Jerusalem.
The ropes are removed from your necks,
you captives from Zion.
• Get up and shake off the dust,
sit on your throne, O Jerusalem.
Remove the ropes from your neck,
O captive Zion.
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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