9And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise, and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them; they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.
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 Jeremiah 33:9:
Kupsabiny: “And then, all the countries will see the good things/deeds that I do to this city and the complete peace that I give. Then, they shall ululate/rejoice loudly and praise me, and honor me but, they shall tremble in fear.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “If this will-happen, the city of Jerusalem will-give to me honor, joy, and praise. And every nation in the world will-tremble in fear if they will-hear the good things which I do in this city, as-well-as my making it successful and giving peace.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “When that happens, all the nations of the world will rejoice, and they will praise me and honor me. They will hear about all the good things that I have done for this city and, because of that, they will revere me, and they will tremble because I have caused the people in this city to have peace and to prosper.’” (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.
City translates a feminine pronoun, which Good News Translation, New American Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible render “Jerusalem.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, however, does not understand the pronoun to refer to the city, and has (literally) “It will be for me a joyous title [or, name],” meaning “I will bear the joyous name.”
A name of joy, a praise and a glory appears as “a source of joy, honor, and pride” in Good News Translation. For the first part of the verse, New Jerusalem Bible has “And, for me, Jerusalem will become a name of joy and praise and pride for all the nations on earth to see.” For praise see 13.11. The term rendered glory here is not the usual word rendered “glory”; it has the basic meaning of “ornament” or “decoration,” but it may also mean “glory” or “splendor.” Elsewhere in Jeremiah it is found in 13.11, 18 (Revised Standard Version “beautiful”), 20 (Revised Standard Version “beautiful”); 48.17 (Revised Standard Version “glorious”). It is a favorite term in the book of Isaiah. Good News Translation renders it as “pride,” but another way to render the meaning is “brings great honor to me.”
Before all the nations of the earth who shall hear: Jerusalem will have universal significance. The meaning is not that some nations will hear and others will not, but that all nations will hear (Good News Translation “and every nation in the world … when they hear”).
That I do … the prosperity I provide: The pronoun I (in both these occurrences) is emphatic in the Hebrew text.
For them; that is, “for the people of Jerusalem” (Good News Translation).
They shall fear and tremble: The verb fear is also used in 36.16 (Revised Standard Version “turned in fear”), 24 (Revised Standard Version “afraid”). The basic meaning of tremble is “shake,” but then it may mean “tremble” or “be upset.” Elsewhere it is used in Jeremiah only in 50.34, where a causative form is translated “give … unrest” by Revised Standard Version.
For prosperity see verse 6.
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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