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)
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)
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 4:16:
Kupsabiny: “They have come to tell people and announce to Jerusalem that enemies have started a raid from a distant land. They are preparing to fight in a bad way the cities that are in Judah.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “They were-commanded to warn the nations and Jerusalem that there are soldiers who are-attacking from a distant place who are-provoking/challenging war against the towns of Juda.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Tell this to the people in other nations but also announce it in Jerusalem: Yahweh says, ‘An army is coming to Jerusalem from far away; they will shout a battle-cry against the cities in Judah.” (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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
Here, oide (おいで) or “come” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Warn the nations is thought by some scholars to make no sense in the context, though there is no textual basis either for its removal or for its replacement by an alternative wording. It may then be understood as either a warning to the nations concerning the destruction that is about to take place or a call to the nations to witness the destruction that the LORD is bringing upon Jerusalem. A number of modern translations identify this as a warning (Moffatt, Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), though the verb itself literally means “Make … known” (New American Bible) or “Tell” (Revised English Bible).
There is, however, another interpretation of the Hebrew put forward by some scholars which translators should consider. It could be expressed as “Announce to those nations, ‘This is the way!’ ” This interpretation is possible because the word rendered as Warn in the Revised Standard Version text is more often translated as “proclaim” or “announce”; the word Revised Standard Version translates as that he is coming really means “See!” or “Look!” or “This way!” (so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). Thus the line is addressed to the various groups of the invading army, telling them which way to go.
He (see verse 13) refers to the “enemies” (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) if translators follow either of the first two interpretations above.
The Hebrew underlying announce to Jerusalem can also be interpreted as “summon against,” which seems reflected in Revised English Bible “proclaim the doom of Jerusalem.” This interpretation would also fit well with the interpretation of the first line as telling the enemy troops which way to go. The two lines could be “Announce to those nations, ‘Here, go this way,’ and summon them against Jerusalem.”
There is some discussion regarding the meaning of the word translated besiegers by Revised Standard Version and “enemies” by Good News Translation. The word literally means “guards” or “watchers,” and is not normally used in the sense that it has here. Jerusalem Bible renders “Enemies,” with a footnote that the translators are following the Septuagint. However, it would seem possible to assume this meaning for the Hebrew, thereby making a footnote unnecessary. In fact, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Luther 1984 and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch follow this interpretation, together with Good News Translation, without a footnote. Other commentators prefer the meaning of “scouts,” the vanguard of the approaching army, and that would also be acceptable in the translation.
Shout against must be understood in the sense of “lift up their battle cry against” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).
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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