complete verse (Jeremiah 52:28)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 52:28:

  • Kupsabiny: “The people whom king Nebuchadnezzar took and went with were three thousand and twenty-three (3,023) Jews in the seventh year of him ruling.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “These are the number of the Israelinhon who were taken-captives by King Nebuchadnezzar:
    On the 7th year of his reign, 3,023 people,
    On the 18th year of his reign, 832 people.
    On the 23rd year of his reign, 745 men. Nebuzaradan was the one who took- them -captives.
    4,600 people in all were taken-captives.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The number of people who were captured and sent to Babylon at that time, when Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for almost seven years, was 3,023.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 52:28 - 52:30

This is the number: Good News Translation “This is the record” is probably more natural in English. Or translators can have something like “Here is the record of the numbers.”

The seventh year; that is, 598-597 B.C. This means the seventh year he was king.

In the translation it must be clear that the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away are the same as the three thousand and twenty-three Jews. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch combines these and translates “Nebuchadnezzar led 3023 men from Judah into captivity.”

The eighteenth year would have been 587-586 B.C. Again, this is the eighteenth year of his reign. There seems little reason to repeat of Nebuchadrezzar.

In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzaradan … carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons: The twenty-third year would have been 582-581 B.C. Translators can render this “in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzardan took away 745 of the Jews.”

All the persons were four thousand and six hundred: This figure is the total of the three groups. It was probably arrived at by counting only the adult male population.

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 .