The Hebrew and Greek that is translated “seek God” or “seek the Lord” is translated in most Polish Bible translations as szukaɫ Boga or szukaɫ Pana.
These phrases are also being used in modern Polish as metaphors meaning “‘to look for some manifestations of the existence and activity of God in the reality which surrounds us, to seek evidence for God’s existence in the world in which we live,’ less commonly: ‘to seek reliable, convincing information about God in philosophical doctrines.’ Therefore, this metaphor describes the intellectual efforts of man with religious needs man who was unfortunate enough to have been born in an age in which the belief in the existence of God diminishes, therefore in an attempt to solidify their own faith or to regain it, religious people seek, in the surrounding world, the signs that God exists and cares about the world and humankind. (…) [This] has a more profound, more subtle meaning, and what is more important — a meaning which corresponds more accurately to the spirit and the problems of our age than the original text or its semantically faithful translation. Our age faces a different problem than the one that was faced by people in Zephaniah’s times [see Zeph 1:6]. Today the problem is not that the faithful pray to other deities instead of the one God. Today the problem is that the people do not see the manifestations of the existence and the activity of God in the world that surrounds them and that they doubt in His existence. Therefore today a translation of the Bible which encourages looking for God in the present-day understanding of this metaphor is indeed of greater utility in terms of pastoral service than a translation which would encourage people to worship God or to pray to him instead of other deities. Obviously, the only translation which is philologically correct is a translation which renders the meaning of the metaphor which was ascribed to it by the authors of the original, i.e. in this case not ‘to look for God’ but ‘to offer penitential prayers to God.’ However, in a confessional translation, which reflects the religious needs and the theological gleanings of some religious community, there are numerous instances of departure from the principles of philology. In Catholic biblical exegesis theologians acknowledge that certain passages of the Old Testament announce the coming of Jesus Christ – therefore we admit that the Old Testament expresses certain senses which were not dreamed of by its authors at the time at which they wrote these fragments of the Old Testament.” (Source: Król / Piela 2021)
For the phrases “I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me,” see Romans 10:20.
Note that this quote in the New Testament is not taken from the Hebrew Bible but from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) which translates into English as “I became visible to those who were not seeking me; I was found by those who were not inquiring about me.” (Translation by NETS — for the Greek version see the title’s tooltip)
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).
Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).
In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 65:1:
Kupsabiny: “God is saying, ‘I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me, those who were not searching for me found me. I said to those nations that did not call for me, ‘This is me, I am here.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The LORD says, "who did not ask me I was ready to reply to them, I was yearning to meet my people but they were not even looking for me. Even though I said "I am here, I really am here," my people did not pray to me.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The LORD said, ‘I have-made-known-myself to the people who did- not -ask about me. They saw me even if they did- not -look for me. I revealed myself even-though they did- not -call upon me.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “This is what Yahweh said: ‘I was ready to reply to my people, but no one requested me to help them. I was ready to help even those who did not call out to me. I continued to say, ‘I am here to help you!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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.
Good News Translation begins this verse with the quote frame “The LORD said” to indicate Yahweh is the speaker here. If translators wish to identify the speaker, it is better to begin with “The LORD says.”
I was ready to be sought … I was ready to be found …: The Hebrew text here is very brief, using two parallel passive verbs to refer to God’s readiness to respond. For New International Version these verbs indicate that God responded: “I revealed myself … I was found….” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh is similar with “I responded … I was at hand…,” and so is New Jerusalem Bible with “I have let myself be approached … I have let myself be found….” However, most commentators agree that the verbs here only express God’s availability, his willingness to be sought and found (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). For languages that prefer active verbs instead of passive ones, see Good News Translation (see also the second example below).
By those who did not ask for me … by those who did not seek me: These two parallel clauses describe God’s rebellious people. Although God was ready to respond, the people did not turn to him for help. The Hebrew verbs for ask and seek are often used to refer to devotion to Yahweh (see 51.1; 58.2). Since these verbs are negated, they express the failure of the people to follow God. Masoretic Text does not have the phrase for me, but it is implied since the pronoun me is explicit in following parallel clause.
I said, “Here am I, here am I,” to a nation that did not call on my name: These two lines express the same theme as the first half of the verse. I said, “Here am I, here am I” indicates that God constantly made himself available to help his people. The repetition emphasizes that readiness. For here am I, see the comments on 52.6 and 58.9. A nation that did not call on my name means the people refused to respond to God’s offer. In contrast to Cyrus the Persian emperor (41.25), the people in Judah rejected God’s offer, refusing to worship him and turn to him for help. It is clear in verses 8-10 that this criticism does not apply to every individual in Judah, but clearly there were many in this category. For call on my name, see the comments on 12.4 and 64.7.
Translation examples for this verse are:
• I was ready to respond to people who did not ask for me,
I was ready to be found by people who failed to look for me;
I said, “I am here! I am here!” to a nation that refused to call on me.
• Although I was willing to respond, they didn’t ask for my help;
although I was willing to reply, they didn’t turn to me.
I said, “Look I am here! I am here!”
but they were a nation that refused to worship me.
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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