The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “bronze” in English is translated in Newari as “bell-metal,” since bells are made of bronze in Nepal (source: Newari Back Translation).
See also bronze vessel.
תַּ֣חַת הַנְּחֹ֜שֶׁת אָבִ֣יא זָהָ֗ב וְתַ֤חַת הַבַּרְזֶל֙ אָ֣בִיא כֶ֔סֶף וְתַ֤חַת הָֽעֵצִים֙ נְחֹ֔שֶׁת וְתַ֥חַת הָאֲבָנִ֖ים בַּרְזֶ֑ל וְשַׂמְתִּ֤י פְקֻדָּתֵךְ֙ שָׁל֔וֹם וְנֹגְשַׂ֖יִךְ צְדָקָֽה׃
17Instead of bronze I will bring gold;
instead of iron I will bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze;
instead of stones, iron.
I will appoint Peace as your overseer
and Righteousness as your taskmaster.
The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “bronze” in English is translated in Newari as “bell-metal,” since bells are made of bronze in Nepal (source: Newari Back Translation).
See also bronze vessel.
Following is a list of (back-) translations of various languages:
See also respectable, righteous, righteous (person), devout, and She is more in the right(eous) than I.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 60:17:
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”.
As in verse 15, the Hebrew preposition tachat opens this verse. Here it is rendered Instead of and used four times to mark each of the changes that are to come. In each example a more precious material replaces a less valuable one, symbolizing changes for the better. Some commentators understand these promises in a literal sense. For them this verse refers to the valuable materials that will be used to build a new Temple more grand than Solomon’s Temple that was destroyed. However, the promises here are general and translators should not mention the Temple or its construction.
Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver: God will replace less valuable metals with precious ones. As noted above, this symbolizes the better future that God’s people can expect. For bronze and iron, see the comments on 45.2. There is some poetic logic in the replacements, since both bronze and gold are similar in color, and so are iron and silver. If the receptor language does not distinguish bronze and iron, translators may use other common metals if they are of less value than gold and silver.
And instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron: The verb phrase I will bring, which is used twice in the first two lines, is implied in both these lines as well. God will also replace wood and stones with the more valuable materials bronze and iron.
I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness is a figurative expression that means God will replace oppression with peace and righteousness. The Hebrew term for overseers can be used in both a positive and negative sense for leaders, but the word for taskmasters always has a negative sense, referring to those who oppress (see 3.12, where it is rendered “oppressors”). The word taskmasters recalls the Exodus story, where it is used to refer to the Egyptians who oppressed the Israelites (see, for example, Exo 3.7). In this context both terms refer to leaders who use their authority to oppress others. The irony in these two lines is obvious: the future oppressive leaders of God’s people will be peace (see 26.12) and righteousness (see 1.21). These positive qualities will be typical of God’s people in place of oppression. Good News Translation renders these two lines nonfiguratively with the future leaders of Judah in focus by saying “Your rulers will no longer oppress you; I will make them rule with justice and peace.” For translators who have difficulty conveying the implications of the figurative language here, Good News Translation is a useful model. Bible en français courant provides another possible model with “The authority and the power that I will establish in your midst, it is peace and justice.”
Translation examples for this verse are:
• Instead of bronze I will bring you gold,
and instead of iron I will bring you silver;
instead of wood you will have bronze,
and instead of stones you will have iron.
Peace will become your overlord,
righteousness will become your master.
• I will bring gold to replace bronze,
and silver to replace iron;
I will give you bronze to replace wood,
and iron to replace stones.
I will make peace and righteousness
to become your masters.
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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