woe is me

The now commonly-used English idiom “woe is me” (for an — often ironic — exclamation of lamentation for one’s misfortune) was first coined in 1610 in the Douay Rheims Version. (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 269)

For other idioms in English that were coined by Bible translation, see here.

See also Woe to us!

bear child / give birth

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “bear (a child)” or “give birth to” is translated in Mairasi as “go to the forest,” reflecting the traditional place of childbirth for Mairasi women. (Source: Enggavoter 2004)

In Spanish it is translated as dar a luz, literally “to give to light.” Likewise, in Portuguese (dar à luz) and Italian (dare alla luce). (Source: Mark Terwilliger)

See also in childbirth / travail and birth.

complete verse (Jeremiah 15:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 15:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then I said,
    ‘How great a suffering I have, please?
    Why did my mother give birth to me?
    Why are people opposing me.
    I am quarrelling with people everywhere
    I have not lent out anything to anybody nor loaned anything
    but everyone is cursing me?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I am very pitiful! Wish my mother did- not -give-birth to me! I (am) opposed wherever in the entire Juda. I have- not -loan-from-anyone or loaned-out-to-someone, but I am being-cursed by everyone.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I said to my mother, ‘I am very sad;
    I wish that you had not given birth to me;
    everyone in this land opposes me and quarrels with me.
    I am not a person who lends money to people and threatens to sue/harm them if they do not pay me back when they should,
    and I am not a person who borrows money from others and then refuses to pay it back,
    but everyone curses me.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 15:10

Woe is me is rendered more naturally in Good News Translation “What an unhappy man I am!” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “How unfortunate I am” (compare 4.31).

In the text Jeremiah’s complaint is addressed to his mother: Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me. Most translations keep the address form with something such as “How unfortunate for me, mother, that you gave birth to me [or, that I was ever born]!” However, the use is figurative and rhetorical; Jeremiah is not really expecting his statement to be heard by his mother. Good News Translation therefore puts mother in third person: “What an unhappy man I am! Why did my mother bring me into this world?” It is also possible to drop the address form: “How terrible for me that I was born!”

Strife translates the noun first used in 11.20 (Revised Standard Version “cause”). Contention translates a word found only here in the book of Jeremiah. One scholar notes that the root of this word indicates a process in a legal court, and that the two words together indicate “legal strife” and “legal contention.” Thus Jeremiah is pictured as someone who is constantly involved in legal action against his people. The Hebrew text conveys the idea that Jeremiah is the victim of the strife and contention, not the person who is its source. Thus “I quarrel and struggle with everyone” is probably not correct. Rather, translators should have “Everyone in the country opposes and quarrels with me.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders “people oppose me and quarrel with me.”

The verbs lent and borrowed may require objects: “I have not lent any money or borrowed any” (Good News Translation). It may also be necessary to indicate the person the money was lent to: “I have not lent money to anyone….” In Hebrew the verbs lent and borrowed do not necessarily include the sense that the lending and borrowing were done at interest.

Curse does not refer to the use of profanity (bad language); the meaning is either “wish or ask a curse upon” or “treat with contempt.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “wish for evil to befall,” and Revised English Bible has “abuses.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .