Jer 6:14 – TIPs

peace (inner peace)

The Hebrew and Greek that is usually translated into English as “peace,” when referring to one’s inner peace, is (back-) translated with a variety of idioms and phrases:

“a song in the body” (Baoulé — see also joy)
“heart coolness” (Eastern Maninkakan / Moronene) / “inner coolness” (Binumarien) (source for Moronene: David Andersen; Binumarien: Oates 1995, p. 249)
“coolness” (Pular / Kutu) (source for Kutu: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
“sit down in the heart” (South Bolivian Quechua) / “my heart sits down” (Northern Grebo)
“rest the heart” (Central Mazahua) / “rest within” (Lacandon) (source: Nida 1952, p. 40 and 128ff.) / “wait well in your heart” (Yatzachi Zapotec) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“quietness of heart” (Chol)
“kobe (= the abdominal region, including the heart) quiet” (Warao) (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. )
“have a quiet mind” (Ngäbere)
“heart will lie quietly” (Isthmus Zapotec)
“live quietly” (Central Tarahumara) (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
“quiet goodness” (Kekchí)
“goodness of life” (Uma) (source: Uma Back Translation)
“strength of heart” (Highland Puebla Nahuatl)
“leaning on the liver” (Kare)
“sweet insides” (Shilluk)
“evenness” (Toraja-Sa’dan)
“having your hearts feel oneness for one another” (Tzeltal)
“have one heart” (Miskito)
“well-arranged soul” (Mashco Piro)
“completeness” (Highland Puebla Nahuatl) (source for this and two above: Nida 1952, p. 128ff.)
“stomach flat in” (“one’s stomach sticks out when one is upset”) (Kimyal) (source: Young 2022)
“joy in heart” (Eastern Highland Otomi) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“have security in your heart” (Highland Totonac) (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
“smooth interior” (Bariai) (source: Bariai Back Translation)
tangnefedd — “an internal condition that makes external peace (heddwch) possible” (Welsh) (source: Rosa Hunt in Journal of European Baptist Studies 1/23 (2023), p. 1ff. ) (source for all non-attributed translations: Bratcher / Nida)

In American Sign Language it is signed with a compound sign consisting of “become” and “silent.” (Source: Yates 2011, p. 52)

“Peace” in American Sign Language (source )

complete verse (Jeremiah 6:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 6:14:

Kupsabiny: “They treat the deep wounds of my people
as if they were only small wounds.
They are saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
even when there is no peace!” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “They do not treat seriously the wound of my people, even-though it is already serious. They say that everything is fine/good even-though it is not fine/good.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “They act as though the sins of my people are like small wounds that they do not need to put bandages on.
They continually greet people by saying ‘I hope things are going well with you,’
when things are not going well.” (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. )

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 6:14

They have healed the wound of my people lightly is considerably restructured by Good News Translation: “They act as if my people’s wounds were only scratches.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch follows in this restructuring. New International Version has “They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious.” The noun wound is first used in 4.6, where it is translated “destruction” by Revised Standard Version.

Peace represents the traditional greeting among Israelites. It indicates wholeness and soundness of being. Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace is translated by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch as “ ‘All is well,’ they say, ‘all is in order.’ But all is not well, and nothing is in order!” Some translators will use something similar to this, as in “They greet each other saying ‘Peace to you,’ but there is no peace.” Others will use indirect speech: “They greet each other saying all is well even though all is not well.”

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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Verse: Jeremiah 6:14