shepherd

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “shepherd” in English is translated in Kouya as Bhlabhlɛɛ ‘yliyɔzʋnyɔ — ” tender of sheep.”

Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains:

“Then one day they tackled the thorny problem of ‘shepherd’. It was problematic because Kouyas don’t have herdsmen who stay with the sheep all the time. Sheep wander freely round the village and its outskirts, and often a young lad will be detailed to drive sheep to another feeding spot. So the usual Kouya expression meant a ‘driver of sheep’, which would miss the idea of a ‘nurturing’ shepherd. ‘A sheep nurturer’ was possible to say, but it was unnatural in most contexts. The group came up with Bhlabhlɛɛ ‘yliyɔzʋnyɔ which meant ‘a tender of sheep’, that is one who keeps an eye on the sheep to make sure they are all right. All, including the translators, agreed that this was a most satisfactory solution.”

Other translations include:

  • Chuj: “carer” (there was no single word for “shepherd”) (source: Ronald Ross)
  • Muna: “sheep guard” (dhagano dhumba) (there was no immediate lexical equivalent) (source: René van den Berg),
  • Mairasi: “people who took care of domesticated animals” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: “sheep worker” (kookendjeriyang-yakina) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Kwakum: “those-who-monitor-the-livestock” (source: Stacey Hare in this post )

See also I am the good shepherd, complete verse (Psalm 23:1), and sheep / lamb.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Shepherds in the Bible .

complete verse (Jeremiah 51:23)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 51:23:

  • Kupsabiny: “I used you to destroy shepherds and their sheep.
    I smashed farmers and their oxen,
    and I finished kings and leaders.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I will- still -destroy through you the animals and its shepherds, the farmers and the cows, and the leaders and the officials.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 51:21 - 51:23

The image of break in pieces can be retained, but in these verses wherever it is people being dealt with, Good News Translation shifts to “kill,” “slay,” “slaughter,” or “crush.”

The horse and his rider: This is to be understood in a collective sense (Good News Translation “horses and riders”), as are the other objects and persons mentioned in these verses. What is important in the translation of this short passage is to render it in a way that will convey a dramatic and forceful impact to the reader.

For chariot see 4.13.

As elsewhere, if shepherds and flocks are not known, translators can use general terms such as “herdsmen” and “herds of domestic animals [or, their herds].”

The team of the farmer is either the horses or oxen he uses for plowing. Oxen are more likely, but translators can also use a general term such as “animals that pull the plow.”

Since governors and commanders are titles that are difficult to define precisely, it is best to translate them by terms that are more general, representing high positions of civil authority, such as in Good News Translation “rulers and high officials.”

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 .