Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 19:2:
Kupsabiny: “Pass through the gate of potsherds until the valley of the son of Hinnom. When you (sing.) have reached there, announce the words that I am telling you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “and you (plur.) go to the Valley/Plain of Ben Hinom, near the Gate/Entrance where the Broken Clay-Pots were-Thrown-Away. And there proclaim what I said to you (sing.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Go out of the city past the Gate of Broken Pots, to the place overlooking the dump for broken pottery in the Ben-Hinnom Valley. Then give them a message.” (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.
Valley of the son of Hinnom is just outside the city of Jerusalem on the southern side (see 7.31).
Potsherd Gate: This gate is mentioned only here in the Old Testament. Its location is uncertain, though some scholars identify it with the “Dung Gate” (see Neh 2.13; 3.13-14; 12.31). A potsherd is a piece of broken pottery, so that the gate may have been one where rubbish was thrown out. Translators could therefore say “Gate of Rubbish” or “Broken Pottery Gate.” The text says at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, which Good News Translation understands to mean that to go to Hinnom Valley, people had to go through that gate.
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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