13Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 16:13:
Kupsabiny: “Therefore, I shall chase you (plur.) from this land for you to go to a land you have never seen and even your forefathers never saw. You can worship idols day and night. Do not put your hope in me that I am saving you.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “So I will-drive- you (plur.) -out of this land towards the land that you (plur.) or your (plur.) ancestors have not known. And there you (plur.) can serve other gods as (you pl) like; and I will- never -pity you (plur.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “So, I will throw you out of this land, and I will send you to a land that you and your ancestors have never known about. There you will worship other gods day and night. And I will not act mercifully toward 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.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Hurl (Good News Translation “throw”) translates a verb that may be used of throwing a spear (1Sam 18.11) or of throwing someone into the sea (Jonah 1.12-15). The verb appears twice again in Jeremiah (22.26, 28).
A land which neither you nor your fathers have known: Compare 9.16.
There you shall serve other gods day and night: Compare 5.19. New Jerusalem Bible translates “there you can serve other gods, day and night,” with a note indicating that this is “an ancient expression for living in exile … outside Palestine….” For the order of day and night, see 9.1.
Favor (so also New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible) is translated “mercy” by New American Bible and Good News Translation. This is the only place in the Old Testament where this word occurs; it comes from the same Hebrew root as the verb rendered “be pitied” by the Revised Standard Version footnote in 22.23, which supports the translation “mercy” or “compassion.”
Verses 11-13 make a rather long sentence, with the argument being “Because your ancestors forsook me…, and because you have done worse…, therefore I will….” Good News Translation structures it “Your ancestors turned away … But you have done even worse … So then, I will….” This is very clear in English. Translators should structure this passage in whatever way would most clearly in their language allow readers to understand what the LORD is saying.
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 .
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