complete verse (Jeremiah 23:39)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 23:39:

  • Kupsabiny: “I shall take you to be a burden to me and I shall throw you far away. I shall turn my back on the city that I gave you and your forefathers.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I will- surely -forget you (sing.) and drive-away from my presence. And I will-abandon this city that I gave to your (sing.) ancestors.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So I , Yahweh, will get rid of you false prophets. I will expel you from my presence. And I will get rid of this city that I gave to you and to your ancestors.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 23:39

For behold see 1.6.

I will surely lift you up: In Hebrew the pronoun I is emphatic. Surely (Good News Translation “certainly”) represents lift being repeated in the Hebrew, which is a way of making the verb emphatic. Lift … up does have manuscript support, and it is the form of the text supported by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. As the Good News Translation note indicates, the verb lift … up comes from the same root as the Hebrew word for “message” and “burden.” Thus there is a continuing wordplay. Some translators try to retain the wordplay with “I will certainly pick you up like a burden.” This may make the sentence more awkward than retaining the pun is worth, however.

Cast you away: “Throw … away” (Good News Translation) fits the imagery of “pick you up,” and is therefore the usual translation (see verse 33).

As for the city which I gave you and your fathers, it is sometimes more natural to make this a separate sentence; for example, “I will do the same thing to [or, also throw far from me] the city I gave you and your ancestors.”

As we indicated at verse 38, this verse is a continuation of that sentence. Translators might say this:

• because of that I will certainly lift you up and throw you far from me, you and also the city I gave you and your ancestors.

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 .