Judah, Judea

The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)


“Judah” and “Judea” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Judah, Judah (son of Jacob) , and Tribe of Judah .

complete verse (Jeremiah 3:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 3:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “I was thinking, ‘When/after (she) has done all those things, she will come back to me,’ but (she) did not do like that. Also her sister Judah saw (it) the one who was restless.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I thought that after she had-done all this she will-return to me, but she did- not -return. And this was-seen by her deceitful sibling which is Juda.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I thought that they would return to me, so I said to them, ‘Come back to me!’ But they refused. So I sent them away to other countries, like a man writes a note saying that he is divorcing his wife and then sends his wife away because she has committed adultery.” (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”.

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 3:7

Notice that the I is the LORD, who is still addressing Jeremiah. Translators should be sure that it is clear to readers that it is not Jeremiah speaking.

For return see verse 6 above.

False (elsewhere in Jeremiah the word appears only in verse 10) actually means “unfaithful” (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or “faithless” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). The problem with the rendering false sister is that it may be taken to mean that Judah was not in reality the sister of Israel. In verse 6 Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “that faithless one, Israel” as “Israel, this unfaithful woman” and in verse 7 renders her false sister Judah as “Her unfaithful sister Judah.”

What Judah saw (it in the text and “it all” in Good News Translation) might also be “what she did” or “what happened.”

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 .