neighbor

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” in English is rendered into Babatana as “different man,” i.e. someone who is not one of your relatives. (Source: David Clark)

In North Alaskan Inupiatun, it is rendered as “a person outside of your building,” in Tzeltal as “your back and side” (implying position of the dwellings), in Indonesian and in Tae’ as “your fellow-man,” in Toraja-Sa’dan it is “your fellow earth-dweller,” in Shona (translation of 1966) as “another person like you,” in Kekchí “younger-brother-older-brother” (a compound which means all one’s neighbors in a community) (sources: Bratcher / Nida and Reiling / Swellengrebel), in Mairasi “your people” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Mezquital Otomi as “fellow being,” in Tzeltal as “companion,” in Isthmus Zapotec as “another,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “all people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in most modern German translations as Mitmensch or “fellow human being” (lit. “with + human being”).

In Matt 19:19, Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Luke 10:29 it is translated into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that refers to a person who is socially/physically near. Ixcatlán Mazatec also has a another term for “neighbor” that means “fellow humans-outsiders” which was not chosen for these passages. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Noongar it is translated as moorta-boordak or “people nearby” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

complete verse (Jeremiah 7:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 7:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “Turn from your habits/lifestyle and stay away from those things you are doing. Take/Consider others with a good stomach (heart).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘ ‘You (plur.) change/renew your (plur.) ways and behavior. You (plur.) treat each other rightly,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I will act mercifully to you only if you change your behavior and stop doing evil things,
    and if you start to act fairly/justly toward others,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 7:5

As Revised Standard Version shows, verses 5-7 consist of four “if” clauses, followed by a conclusion introduced by “then” (verse 7). For the average English reader this is an extremely difficult construction, and so Good News Translation shifts to a series of five commands, each of which is a separate sentence: “Change … Be fair … Stop … Stop … Stop….” Then verse 7 of Good News Translation ties the conclusion to the commands: “If you change, I will….” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch places verses 5-7 together, and begins: “Only if you completely change your life, will you remain in this land which I have given to your ancestors as a permanent possession….” Then Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch follows with a series of four imperatives.

Amend your ways and your doings is repeated from verse 3.

Execute justice one with another is translated “Be fair in your treatment of one another” by Good News Translation and “treat one another fairly” by New Jerusalem Bible. The command is not to be limited to judicial matters, as might be suggested by Revised Standard Version. See also 5.1.

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 .