birds of the air

The Greek and Hebrew phrases that are often translated as “birds of the air” in English “refer to the undomesticated song birds or wild birds, to be distinguished in a number of languages from domesticated fowl. In Tzeltal these former are ‘field birds’.” (source: Bratcher / Nida)

Q’anjob’al also uses an established term for non-domesticated birds. Newberry and Kittie Cox (in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. ) explain: “Qʼanjobʼal has two distinct terms, one to identify domesticated birds and the other non-domesticated birds. The additional descriptive phrase ‘of the air’ seemed entirely misleading, for Qʼanjobʼal speakers had never heard of such creatures. Actually, of course, all that was necessary was the term for non-domesticated birds, for that is precisely the meaning of the Biblical expression.”

In Elhomwe they are just translated as “birds” or “birds of the bush” (i.e., wild birds) to “not give the impression that these are special type of birds.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

See also birds of the air / fish of the sea and birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

complete verse (Jeremiah 4:25)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 4:25:

  • Kupsabiny: “When I looked around, I saw no one,
    and even the birds had fled.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I also saw that there were no people, and all the birds had-flown away.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 4:25

There was no man: The absence of man (Good News Translation “people”) on the earth is a further indication of its chaotic state. It is significant that the word used here of man is the same as that found in the first chapter of Genesis. Good News Translation has rendered this first line “I saw that there were no people.”

Birds of the air is simply a Hebrew way of saying “birds.” Since it is slightly odd in many languages to say the birds … had fled, the Good News Translation expression “the birds had flown away” is often a useful model. According to Hos 4.3 and Zeph 1.3, birds and animals alike will disappear before God executes his judgment.

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 .